Secrets from the Past
by Darth Frodo
Summary: Kimberly Jordan is just a normal girl with some amazing abilities. But everything changed when she meets a black haired blue eyed boy looking for Danny Fenton, the hero who vanished fifteen years ago. Now they must use the clues he left behind to find him
1. Kimberly Jordan

A/N: Alright, here's the new story that I've been talking about for...a long time. I'm really excited about finally getting a chance to post it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I've put a lot of time and work into figuring this whole thing out, as I'm sure you'll find out later, so I really hope you enjoy it!

Extended Summary: (since the spot they give is too short to do it justice)  
Kimberly Jordan was just your normal everyday teenage girl. Sure her parents were the richest people in Jordan Park which thus made her the most popular girl in school and she did have these strange gifts which allowed her to turn invisible or intangible and shoot green blasts of energy out of her hands, but she had two best friends and a loving family just like every other person.

Then, everything turned upside down when she found a black haired, blue eyed boy on her stairs who had the same abilities she did. He was looking for Danny Fenton, the town hero who had mysteriously disappeared fifteen years ago and he needed her help. Now she and her friends along with the boy and his friends must travel through Danny Fenton's world, looking for the clues he left behind, involving them in a hunt for a secret weapon and a prophecy that will help them rescue Danny Fenton and save the world from a dangerous adversary. But is there more to this boy than meets the eye, and is there more to Kimberly's past than she thought?

I hope you guys enjoy this and if you have any questions/complaints/comments, be sure to let me know! (this story will may get a little complicated!)

Disclaimer: (The only time I'm doing this throughout the story) I don't own Danny Phantom, but Kimberly and her friends are mine and can be loaned with permission.

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Secrets from the Past

Chapter One  
Kimberly Jordan

Kimberly Jordan opened her icy blue eyes as the sound of the radio from her alarm clock rang in her ears. She squinted as the bright sunlight shined into her bedroom and she rolled over in her king size bed pulling the rich red fabric of her covers about her body, her head resting on the mountain of red and gold pillows. She didn't want to get up, not yet. She was having such a wonderful dream, something about a boy with white hair and glowing green eyes flying through the night sky while she flew next to him. For some reason, she felt comfortable flying next to the boy; she felt like she knew him, like a brother. But who could he be? She didn't know anyone that looked like that, nor any boy she'd feel that comfortable with, and she never had a brother.

What intrigued her most about the boy was his appearance. It wasn't that she thought he looked strange or anything, it was more that at times, she looked like that as well.

Kimberly wasn't a normal sixteen year old girl. The public saw her as the fortunate daughter of the richest people in Jordan Park and the most popular girl at Phantom High, but what they didn't know was that she had a deep secret. For as long as Kimberly could remember, she had the strange ability to turn invisible and intangible. Then, when she was nine, she discovered that if she wanted, she could create two rings of light around her waist which would then move up and down her body and change her clothes into a black jumpsuit with silver accents. Her normally raven black hair would turn snow white and her icy blue eyes would turn a bright glowing green, just like the boy in her dream. She discovered that while she looked like this, she had the ability to fly, to her great enjoyment. Then, about three years ago, she discovered that she could shoot rays of green light out of her hands and create a shield of light around her. Then, a year after that, she learned she could scream and project sonic waves that would destroy anything in their vicinity. Now, just recently, she discovered that she could blow things up when she was angry. She never really knew why or how she continued to get all this abilities and at times they scared her.

She turned her head towards her alarm clock which was starting to beep loudly, telling her that she needed to awake immediately. She lifted her hand up and shot a green ray at it, blowing it up as she dropped her arm back onto the bed, again lost in her thoughts.

Of course she had told people, she would have gone insane if she didn't. The only people she trusted with this secret were her two best friends Noelle and Jacob, whom she'd known since third grade, when she first moved from England to what was then called Amity Park. They welcomed her into the class and ate with her when no one else would because she was new and they quickly became the best of friends. Not too long after that, her parents bought out practically the entire town and thus renamed it, to Kimberly's great embarrassment, after themselves. After her parents' demonstration of just how much money and power they had to shove around, she became almost a celebrity in the eyes of the town and she was suddenly ransacked by people, requesting to be her friend. From then on, she had become the most popular girl in school and had many many friends, none of whom really cared about her or her problems. They just wanted to be around her. Noelle and Jacob, however, never seemed to care that she was rich or popular. They treated her just the same, no matter what, which made Kimberly feel extremely happy.

So, eventually she told them her secret, and they didn't shun her or ridicule her. In fact, they thought it was really cool and continually asked her to use her powers to fly them around town or play pranks on people. Whenever she discovered that she had a new power, for it seemed like it happened a lot, they would be there for her, telling her that it was cool. She didn't think she could have made it through the years without them.

Telling her parents was out of the question. She loved them dearly and she knew they loved her back, but they were too prim and proper to understand. To them, appearance was everything, demonstrated by their unnecessarily large house, so she didn't want to think about what would happen if she told them. Her family entertained too many politicians and other influential people that she didn't think they'd accept her.

She was pulled out of her musings by Sylvia, who had been her nanny when she was young and was now her personal maid and was almost like a favorite aunt. Sylvia also knew about Kimberly's unique abilities since when she was young she had a hard time controlling her abilities, especially the intangibility one, so it didn't take long for Sylvia to realize that something was up. She too didn't care, much to Kimberly's relief.

"Still asleep?" she questioned in her cheery British accent. "You know you have to attend the ceremony today. Now come on! I have the hot water running for you in the shower." Kimberly made no sign that she was planning on extracting herself from the warm comfort of her bed. Curse her parents for buying her such a nice bed. She heard Sylvia walk across the room and wrench open the red and gold curtains as light poured into the room. Kimberly buried her head further into the pillows, trying to hide from the bright light. Sylvia walked over to her and sighed. "That's the second alarm clock you've gone through this week Miss Kimberly! If you continue to blast them you're parents will get suspicious at why you have to continue buying more."

"They'll never know. They have so much money they won't even realize if twenty dollars goes missing for a new alarm clock," Kimberly added bitterly as she sat up. Frankly she despised being so rich and popular. She didn't like being pampered like a princess or have people fawn over her. Sylvia realized this, and respected it, which is why she loved her so much.

"Well, she finally lives. It's about time. Now hurry and get dressed!"

"Alright, I'm going!" Kimberly moaned as she walked towards the bathroom, Sylvia following her.

"It's a good thing I set your alarm clock half an hour ahead. Otherwise you'd never be ready in time," Sylvia stated as Kimberly stopped walking, looking at her evilly. "Oh don't look at me like that. I know how much you like to sleep in and we both know you can't be running late today."

"What would I do without you Sylvia?" Kimberly asked with an innocent smile.

"You'd be dead long ago because your parents would have killed you after not being ready for their first public appearance. Now get into the bleedin' shower!"

Kimberly smiled as she headed into her bathroom. She stepped into the nice warm shower and let the hot water wake her up as it poured over her long raven hair and toned body. After showering, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. She walked behind her intricately designed Indian changing screen and changed into a spaghetti strap and sweats before heading towards her vanity. She sat down and started brushing her hair, thinking about the upcoming ceremony. Every year on this date the town held a ceremony, honoring two of the town's greatest figures: Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton.

Danny Fenton was a great businessman loved by everyone in the town. He brought the town into national and soon worldly acclaim through his company FentonWorks. He used his parents' knowledge of ghosts and their ghost hunting business to create a new form of energy generated from ghost ectoplasm. This new source of energy saved millions of dollars and FentonWorks stepped into the worldly arena. He'd also spend his vast fortune to improve the life of what was then called Amity Park. The people loved and respected him and prospered under his generosity. He was even planning on running for mayor and would easily have been elected.

Danny Phantom was the ghost hero of Amity Park. At first thought to be a bad ghost, Danny Phantom never gave up and continued to protect the town from the real bad ghosts. Eventually the public turned their opinion and regarded him as a hero, saving the town on numerous occasions. He risked his life (well, if he had one) to constantly save the town and sometimes the world. He was a true hero and the town treated and honored him as much.

Then, fifteen years ago to the day, the loveable Danny Fenton, his wife Sam Manson, and their newborn child Victoria disappeared from their manor home. The home was left in shambles with dead bodies all over the mansion. No one could figure out what happened to the family and the police had no leads as to who could be responsible.

Then, not long after that, the town realized that Danny Phantom had also gone missing and no one could recall seeing him since before the Fentons disappeared. Some people believed that Danny Phantom was really Danny Fenton, which would explain why they both disappeared around the same time, but family members reported that he wasn't and that they were just good friends. They believed that Danny Phantom had gone off to look for the Fentons and most of the people believed them. Still others thought that Danny Phantom just disappeared because there were no more ghosts around and that it was just a coincidence that they both disappeared at the same time. Regardless of the cause, the city was devastated and sunk into depression until her parents decided to restore the city to its former glory. They renamed the city Jordan Park and changed the name of the high school from Casper High to Phantom High after the hero and renamed the city park Fenton Park after the loveable family.

So, every year, the people gathered on the day of the Fentons' disappearance to pay tribute to the two heroes and role models of the city. Of course, Kimberly's family was always front and center during this ceremony because of their charitable restoration and because her parents were rather close to the Fentons. It was well known that they had some connection with the Fentons, but her parents didn't like to talk about it. Like most things concerning the Fentons, it hurt too much to talk about them and they didn't like remembering them unless they had to.

As she thought about the ceremony, Kimberly continued to get ready. She blow-dried her hair and piled it into an elaborate style on her head, leaving two wisps of hair in front of her face as she usually did. She curled them along with some other pieces of hair and then proceeded to do her make-up, dolling her face up as she usually did when she needed to attend these public appearances. She adorned her ears with long, intricate black earrings and placed the matching necklace around her neck. After adding some rings and bracelets she walked over to her changing screen and pulled the silky black dress off the hanger, slipping the flowing black material over her body. She adjusted the bottom of the dress so the slit was up the middle, letting the material flow and twirl around her legs.

As she stepped out from behind the screen, Sylvia walked into the room.

"Oh Miss Kimberly, you're a vision!" she squealed as Kimberly twirled in the dress, loving how it swished around her ankles. She sat down in an armchair by her fireplace and started strapping the black spiked heels onto her feet. She grabbed her small sequined purse and stood up, ready to go.

"Alright, I'm done," she stated proudly.

"And with a few minutes to spare, I'm impressed. Alright, let's head downstairs and find you something small to eat."

They headed out into the hallway and down the grand staircase that lead them to the front room and then headed towards the dining room. There Kimberly beheld her family who too were dressed all in black; it was a requirement at these ceremonies.

"Kimberly, you look lovely," her mother gushed. "Is there a particular reason why you look so nice?"

"I just like getting dolled up, you know that," Kimberly replied as she grabbed half a cantaloupe and began to eat carefully.

She looked around at her family as they ate. Everyone had told her on multiple occasions that she didn't look a thing like the rest of her family. Her mother was blonde with brown eyes as was her younger sister whereas her dad had brown hair and green eyes, just like her older sister who was off at college. They had told her that she took after her grandparents, who had dark hair and blue eyes, so Kimberly never pushed it. Still, she always felt weird because she stood out so much.

They ate in silence, not really talking much. This day was usually a very dismal day, especially for the Jordan family. Her parents didn't like to talk about the Fentons very much, but she knew that they were close to them. They didn't even have any pictures of him because it was just too painful. Strangely, no one had any pictures of the Fentons or Danny Phantom. A law was passed before she moved here forbidding pictures of the heroes to be shown because it was just too depressing, so Kimberly didn't even know what they looked like. She had always pictured Danny Phantom as a cross between Batman and Superman, except a ghost and she always thought of Danny Fenton as a nice looking man with dark hair and gentle eyes and maybe a goatee. She knew that he was only in his twenties when he disappeared, so he probably looked pretty handsome.

Finally the family finished eating and decided it was time to head out. They filed into the black limo and drove off to the park, where the ceremony was usually held.

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A/N: I know it's short, but it is the exposition. 

Now, I've never done an original character, so please feel free to let me know if Kimberly becomes too much of a Mary-Sue. She's supposed to be somewhat of a model student/daughter goody-goody, but she still has weaknesses and problems, and I hope to make that clear throughout the story. But please let me know!


	2. In Memoriam

A/N: Thank you so much for all your reviews and support! I'mreally glad you guys are getting into this. Trust me, once things get rolling, it'll get even better! 

Alright, good news: next chapter. Yay!

Bad news: I'm going on vaca for ten days starting Thursday and I won't have internet. I'll have my laptop (when given time to use it) but no internet, so I won't be able to post, which is why I'm posting this now instead of after Secret Uncovered like usual.

Which brings me to the next bit of bad news: for those of you who read Secret Uncovered, at this point, it doesn't look like I'll be able to get it up before I leave. I know, I know, I'm really really sorry, but combined with work and an extremely massive writer's block I haven't had time to finish it or quite frankly get much further than a page (where the little niche that I need to work out resides). So, I'm going to try my hardest since I don't have much of tonight left and I may have some time tomorrow between packing, but realistically, I don't think it will be done. But I promise it'll be up the day I get back. I'm really really sorry and you all have permission to hate me forever and flame me to eternity, but that's just the way it is. (And just for those of you who are wondering, no I didn't spend all my time writing this chapter. This one was actually written a long time ago, so this isn't what occupied my time).

I'm really sorry! Truly!

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Chapter Two  
In Memoriam

The park was extremely crowded, since the entire city usually showed up. Attending this ceremony was all but required from the people of Jordan Park as it held such deep significance to everyone, and to each in a different way. The Jordans walked onto the stage, greeting others already on the stage. Kimberly always felt weird traveling down the line of people onstage. The only people allowed up there were the ones who knew Danny Fenton or his family extremely well. Some people she knew, like her English teacher Mr. Lancer or the mayor (who really didn't know Danny but pretended he did) but most of them she didn't know, like Paulina and Dash who knew Danny in high school, or Valerie, another one of Danny's close friends. But the two she really felt awkward greeting were Danny's sister Jazz and Tucker Foley, Danny and Sam's best friend. She dreaded meeting them because she knew that they were the ones that suffered the most, especially Jazz. After Danny was officially pronounced dead, their parents went off in search to find him and never came back. The two of them were the only ones who knew and spent everyday with Danny and Sam well through college and knew them the best. Whenever one of them gave a speech, the entire audience was brought to tears not only because of what they said, but out of pity because they felt so sorry and sad for them.

"Good morning Ms. Jordan," Lancer greeted sadly as he took her hand.

"Good morning Mr. Lancer. How've you been feeling?" she asked politely.

"As good as can be expected on a day like today," he answered, tears forming in his eyes. It was common knowledge that Mr. Lancer and Danny had become really close during Danny's high school years and that he really missed him. Since then he'd been teaching at the high school. Most of the students figured it was because he wanted to keep it going for Danny, others that he didn't really know what else to do and teaching kept his mind off the pain.

Kimberly continued to move down the line, finally reaching Jazz and Tucker who were standing close to each other, tearing gently and supporting each other through this tough time.

"Mrs. Henderson, Mr. Foley," Kimberly greeted as she gave them both a hug.

"Kimberly, how are you?" Jazz asked, her voice wavering from the tears.

"I'm doing alright."

"Good, that's good," Jazz muttered as she continued to cry. For some reason Jazz always seemed to cry harder whenever Kimberly went up to meet her. She didn't know why. It wasn't like she said anything mean or brought up any memories that would cause her to become so sad.

They finally sat down and a few minutes later the Mayor stepped up to the podium and the crowd settled down and silence filled the park.

"Greetings fellow citizens of Jordan Park. Today we gather to remember two very important figures: Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton. It is here, in Fenton Park, that we pay homage to these two outstanding heroes. Here, in the shadow of Fenton Manor," he stated, gesturing to the dark house on the hill that overlooked the park. "Here, in the park that Danny Phantom fought so many ghosts and saved so many lives. Here we gather, to show them they aren't forgotten, to show them that they are greatly missed.

"And now, I'd like to introduce Jazmine Fenton Henderson." Polite applause rang through the audience as Jazz stepped up to the podium.

"November 12, 2014. The day that claimed the lives of my beloved brother Danny Fenton, his caring wife Sam, and their adorable child Victoria, who never even got to experience life. The day that soon lead to the disappearance of our great protector and hero Danny Phantom. The day that causes us to morn and fill with unimaginable sadness.

"Fifteen years ago today the horrible crime happened that robbed us of two great men, of two great heroes. Both helped and saved the town on a daily basis, both tried to make it a better place for our children, both devoted everything they had for this town. Imagine what this town, what this state, what this country could be like if Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were still alive? Imagine what could be done with more time on this earth? Danny Phantom rid this town of a ghost infestation within just nine years, and Danny Fenton reinvented the way people live all over the globe by harnessing ghost energy for power in addition to generously giving his time and money to renovate this town in a span of only three years! Just imagine what it could be like now? What the world would be like now if they were given another fifteen years?

"I know that most of you never had the privilege to meet either of these two heroes, but I did. Danny was my brother and Danny Phantom personally saved my life so many times I've lost count. They were in the prime of their life, or afterlife as it may be. There was no reason either of them needed to go. There was no reason that either of them had to leave this earth. I promise you that you could never find another person on this earth that dedicated and gave more to any one city as these two.

"And so, today, fifteen years after they were brutally taken from us, we remember them and honor them. Today, we show them that they are not forgotten and that their efforts were not in vain. Today, we try, more than any other day, to live up to their expectations.

"They're still watching over us, and I'm sure that they'd be proud of everything we've done to keep the town that they worked so hard to save and protect such a great town. They may not be here physically, but they're here in memory, in the hearts of those that believe in what they did, in the hearts of those who remember them and cherish what they did for this town. So remember remember the twelfth of November, but more importantly, remember why it should be remembered. Because it was the day that two great and caring heroes vanished from this earth."

Jazz walked off the podium and left the crowd speechless. Once she sat down she buried her head in Tucker's shoulder and bawled. Throughout the entire speech she had been crying and Kimberly could tell she was having a hard time getting through it without completely bawling. Her voice was shaky and it was obvious that she was having a hard time continuing on, but she managed. Kimberly noticed that everyone on the stage was crying and the audience was brought to tears. The final paragraph made Kimberly start to tear up and she cried a few tears in sadness for Jazz and everyone else who had known them.

After the ceremony they traveled with Tucker and Jazz to the empty graves of the Fenton family. Millions of flowers covered their graves as they stood and mourned for Danny and his family.

"Well, here we are, another year and still nothing," Tucker stated as he placed a large bouquet of roses on Danny's grave, black roses and violets on Sam's, and pink roses on Victoria's. "I don't know if you're out there still, or if you are truly dead. I want to keep hoping, I really do, but after fifteen years and still no word, I have to admit I'm starting to lose hope. I know the both of you are strong, probably stronger than anyone I've ever met, but fifteen years? It's just…I miss you so much. You're my best friends, and we've known each other since Kindergarten. I don't know how I've survived this long without you. It's just not fair that you had to get pulled away. You always promised us that everything would be fine Danny. You always promised that you'd always be there, no matter what, and I want to believe you, I really do, but I just seem so lost without you. You're what kept me going, what made life fun. I'm nothing without the two of you."

Tears started to fall from everyone's eyes as they continued to stare at their graves, lost in their own memories of the Fenton family. As Kimberly looked at the sad faces of those around her, she felt like she was watching the classic tear-jerking scene from a movie when the cast assembles at a beloved characters grave and give their final words, the scene that makes the entire audience tear in sympathy for the other characters, except this was worse. This was real. She couldn't turn it off or flip to another channel, telling herself it wasn't real, because it was. Danny Fenton and his family really were dead and his friends and family really were mourning his death, and there was nothing she could do to pretend otherwise.

The rest of the day passed by slowly and sadly. The whole town had been decorated in black and nothing was open in homage to the two Dannys. Her parents had a large remembrance feast at their house in which they invited everyone who had known Danny Fenton personally, since no one knew Danny Phantom.

Finally the day ended and Kimberly retreated upstairs, hoping that she would dream of the green-eyed boy again so he could cheer her up after such a depressing day.

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A/N: First, I need to give credit to V for Vendetta for manipulating their quote that just worked so well I had to use it. Plus it's such a great movie that it was more like a tribute than anything else.

Anywho, the same plea for warnings on Mary-Sueish behavior (and thanks to everyone who sent in stuff before!)

I know you all have your own beliefs on what you believe is the big twist, but I'll be like Rowling and remain silent on the matter, whether it become glaringly obvious or not. Also, there's more than one big twist, so don't be down if you think you've got it. There's still a lot more to come!


	3. The Plagues of Being Popular

A/N: Alright, so I was planning on waiting until after I put up the final chapter of Tortured Truth before I put this one up even though it was already written since that's my order, but Tortured Truth is taking forever, so I decided to screw the order and put this up. 

Just a quick thanks to everyone who reviewed and continues to give me constructive criticism! I really appreciate it and I hope you enjoy! Jacob and Noelle are introduced in this chapter, which makes me excited because I love writing them!

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Chapter Three  
The Plagues of Being Popular

"Cutting it kinda close, aren't we?" her father joked as Kimberly dashed into the dining room for breakfast. She noticed her plate of French toast, bacon, and eggs and immediately started eating. Her younger sister was already eating and her mom and dad were each eating while reading the newspaper.

"I think someone didn't want to get out of bed," her mother answered, smiling over her paper at Kimberly.

"Let's just say I really like the new bed set," Kimberly stated back with a smile while continuing to eat.

In truth Kimberly's delay was due to her thoughts concerning the boy in her dreams. She dreamed about him again last night. She couldn't get his face out of her head, it was just so entrancing. His face looked so happy, so peaceful, and he looked around her age. It wasn't like she had a crush on him, but the way he looked at her just made her feel like home, like family. She had been comparing his face with her alternate appearance and noticed that he looked like an exact twin, an exact replica of herself except the opposite gender.

She finished off her plate and drained the last of her orange juice. She jumped up, kissed her mom and dad on the cheeks, and ran towards the garage, her sister following behind her.

"Your bags, Miss Kimberly and Miss Nichole," the butler stated as he held out their backpacks for them. "Which vehicle will you be flying today Miss Kimberly?" he asked in his dry voice.

"Um, let Nichole pick."

"Ooh, the pink bug, the pink bug!"

"The pink VW it is then," Kimberly announced cheerfully as she grabbed the keys from the butler and headed into the garage. She opened the garage and wound her way through the hover cars until she found the pink bug. They jumped in and Kimberly headed towards the elementary school to drop off her sister before heading to the high school.

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A large group of students started waving enthusiastically to Kimberly as she walked towards the front of the school. She heard people calling her name and she just smiled at them or waved if she knew them, which didn't happen very often. It seemed that everyone at the school knew her name, but she only knew the large group that she hung out with most of the time. It wasn't that she didn't care; it was just that there were too many people at the school to know everyone's names.

She reached the large group of friends she usually hung out with and immediately they flocked around her, pestering her with questions about the previous day's events.

"So, how was the party last night? Did you get to talk to Tucker Foley and Danny's sister?" Michelle cooed, trying to get some details. She was the gossiper of the school and wanted to know everything. She was the most popular girl in town until the Jordans moved in. Kimberly knew that her parents' past connections with the Fentons and their association with the top politicians in the nation were the only reasons why Michelle bothered to even talk to Kimberly.

"Yeah, and I really don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" she pressed.

"Because they're just nice people who have been through extremely hard times. You don't know what it's like being with them, to hear them talk about him! He was their best friend and brother, not just some great philanthropist. Sure that's what they may say in the speeches, but hearing them talk about him by his grave makes your heart break! They still think he may be alive, and that just tears me up inside! So, if you don't mind, I would really not like to talk about it!" Kimberly snapped. She heard a light bulb break from a nearby street lamp and she realized that she let her anger get the better of her again. Fortunately no one heard it or if they did they didn't think anything of it. They were too busy staring at Kimberly, stunned at her outburst. She never usually got so snappy with them. They'd always ask her how dinner parties went and she indulged them, but she needed to draw the line somewhere, and a memorial ceremony for someone's death was definitely past the line.

Finally, Alice (Michelle's number two) changed the topic to a new dress she bought and the other girls started talking from there, completely forgetting what just happened. As they walked inside, Kimberly continued to think about her outburst. She knew they couldn't understand and probably never would, but she needed to find an outlet for all the pain she'd been feeling since yesterday. She realized they were at her locker and she shook her herself out of her thoughts. She opened it and started grabbing her books while only half listening to the rest of the group's conversation, nodding and smiling when appropriate.

"You look really nice today Kimberly," a smooth voice cooed into her ear as she shut her locker. She turned her head to find the attractive face of Jonathan close to her ear.

"Thank you John," she replied.

"May I escort you to class?" he asked smoothly.

"Of course," she answered. He grabbed her books as she felt a powerful arm wrap around her waist as they walked towards her first class. Jonathan Stevens and Kimberly Jordan had been dating since freshman year. Of course, Kimberly technically didn't believe they were dating that long, since they spent almost the same amount of time apart as they did dating. They would date for a few weeks and then break up, only to end up together again a few weeks later. It wasn't that he was a bad guy. He was extremely attractive, well built, looked fabulous with his shirt off, gentlemanly, and nice when he wanted to be, but she just couldn't get over his superior attitude and his fondness for bullying. She knew that she didn't love him, although she did have feelings for him, but she could tell that he didn't care about her at all. He only dated her because it was expected since he was the quarterback of the football team, and the quarterback always had to date the most popular girl, which unfortunately happened to be her. Right now they were currently apart, but she could tell he was trying to win her back.

As they walked to class, she felt someone bump into her shoulder. She didn't think anything of it, since the hallways were busy, but Jonathan seemed to notice and took great offense to it as he spun around quickly, noticing the retreating form of a brown haired girl dressed in black.

"Hey you!" Jonathan screamed after her, but she continued down the hall. "I said hey you!" he bellowed as he stomped down the hall and grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around.

"What do you want?" she asked angrily.

"Why did you bump into Ms. Jordan? Is that anyway to treat your superior?" he asked, pinning her against the lockers.

Kimberly fought her way through the crowd that was gathering around them and rushed to Jonathan's side.

"John, it was nothing. It was just an accident, she didn't mean to!" Kimberly started to protest. "Please just let her…"

"Look, I didn't mean to. It was an accident," the girl pleaded.

"Accident, I'll show you an accident!" Jonathan thundered as he hit her against the lockers again, her head leaving a dent in the metal. He lifted her by the collar of her shirt, prepared to stuff her into an open locker when a teacher yelled from the crowd.

"Gulliver's Travels Mr. Stevens! What are you doing?" Mr. Lancer asked as the students parted for him. Everyone knew not to disobey Mr. Lancer on the thirteenth of November.

"This girl here thought she could hurt Ms. Jordan. I was protecting her."

"Were you going to stuff her in a locker?" Mr. Lancer asked maliciously. In Mr. Lancer's book, nothing harbored a harsher punishment than shoving a fellow classmate into a locker. It was well known that Dash Baxter used to shove Danny Fenton in his locker throughout most of his high school years, so Mr. Lancer had made it his personal goal to rid the high school of locker-shoving permanently by assigning the strictest punishments to anyone who decided to be smart and shove another into a locker.

"No, of course not sir. I was just holding her so she would stop charging at Ms. Jordan. I was going to hold her until a teacher came to remedy the situation," he lied smoothly. Unfortunately for most unpopular students, Jonathan was not the usual stereotypical stupid jock. He was actually quite smart and could weasel his way out of anything with his smooth talking voice.

"Well then, Mr. Steven, Ms. Jordan, I suggest you hurry off to class. Ms. Johnson, this merits another detention, follow me."

Jonathan grabbed Kimberly around the waist and they continued off towards their first class while Kimberly continued to glance behind her at the girl being led away by Mr. Lancer.

She turned back to face him. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Done what?" he asked, pretending to be innocent and flashing her the smile that made girls swoon in the halls.

"What you just did to that girl. You lied to Mr. Lancer and you know it. She doesn't deserve detention, and it wasn't like it was that big a deal."

"Not that big a deal? Kimberly, she purposely bumped into you because she wanted to hurt you because you're popular and she's not, so she got jealous."

"So? It was just a bump!" Kimberly defended. "It's not like it hurt or anything, I barely felt it!"

"It's because she's weak. I could see it in her eyes, she wanted to hit you harder if she could," he argued back.

"And you were going to shove her in a locker!" she yelled as she ignored his comment. "Don't you remember what yesterday was? Mr. Lancer would do everything just short of killing you if you actually did!"

"Relax, I knew that old bat was coming. Plus she deserved it."

"She didn't deserve anything!"

"Hey, I was protecting you! I thought that's what boyfriends are supposed to do!"

"We're not going out right now," she stated bluntly.

"Whatever. Besides, why do you care anyways? She's just a freak."

"So was Danny Fenton, and look what happened to him."

"But he never hurt anyone, did he? That Dash guy just picked on him just to pick on him. At least I had a reason."

"You still shouldn't have done it. I hate it when you bully people around," she pouted.

"Hey, I didn't bully anyone," he argued as he stood right in front of her, looking into her bright blue eyes, trying to make excuses so she'd get back to liking him. She smirked at him, showing him that she knew he was lying. "Alright, maybe I did, but she was bullying you in the first place. I was just standing up for you." Kimberly still looked pouty. "Alright, I promise not to do anything to her for the rest of the week, alright?"

Kimberly smiled. "It's a deal." She lifted herself up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek as she grabbed her books from him and walked into the classroom. She sat down next to Noelle and Jacob who smiled at her.

"Busy day?" Jacob asked sarcastically.

"Haha," she replied dryly.

"We heard you two yelling from inside the classroom," Noelle informed her.

"What? Oh my gosh," she muttered as she buried her face into her hands.

"Yeah. We were expecting something to blow up any minute," Jacob stated.

"Oh, your confidence in me is reassuring."

"Isn't it?"

"What's with you today Kimberly?" Noelle asked concerned. "First you blow up at everyone this morning…"

"Not to mention the lamp," Jacob interrupted as he earned a glare from Kimberly.

"…and now this whole thing with Jonathan? Is something wrong?"

Kimberly was about to answer when her teacher walked into the classroom and started writing the daily notes on the board.

"I'll tell you later."

* * *

Kimberly never had a chance to explain her new attitude to her friends until lunch. In between classes there were just too many people around for her to have a private conversation.

After eating lunch with the rest of the group, Kimberly signaled to Noelle and Jacob to leave the table, stating that they needed to go to the car for something. They found a nice shady spot under a tree and sat down, which was their usual retreat.

"So Kimberly, what's going on?" Noelle asked, concerned.

"I just feel kind of down today, what with the whole Danny Fenton thing yesterday."

"But you go through this every year, and you have yet to blow up at fellow teenagers just for being who they are."

"Yeah, but for some reason this is different. I just can't seem to get it out of my head. I don't know why, but I just can't stop thinking about the Fentons."

"Do you think it has something to do with Jazz being the speaker this year? I know you always hate it when she gives the speeches," Jacob pondered.

"Maybe, I don't know. All I know is that it's making me depressed and agitated, and I don't like it at all. Plus, I've been having these really strange dreams."

"What do you mean?" Jacob asked. "You mean stranger than usual?"

"Well, maybe not strange, but just strange feeling." She used to get a lot of strange dreams when she was young, not really knowing anything about them. She still had yet to figure out what they meant, if anything. "In the dream, I'm flying next to this boy who looks like me in my other form, and for some reason I feel really comforted when I'm with him. I can't really describe it, but I just feel like while I'm flying with him, nothing can go wrong."

The three of them sat in silence, not really knowing how to interpret this dream.

"Well, not all dreams have to mean something," Jacob stated hopefully.

"Right, just like not all tests affect your grades," Noelle remarked back. "Look, the only advice I have is to just not worry about it. Don't worry about the Fentons and try not to think about them. They're dead, and though it's tragic, there's really nothing you can do about it. And don't worry about your dream. Just enjoy it while you have it and once it becomes significant, then you'll know."

Kimberly smiled at her two friends as they heard the bell ring, signaling the end of lunch. As they stood up and journeyed back to their lockers Kimberly thought about the two people walking with her. They were always there for her, always there to comfort her in her times of need, to help her understand the abnormal life to which fate had so generously bestowed upon her.

The rest of the day continued in a haze of books and notes and though the thoughts of their conversation still entered Kimberly's brain, she was grateful for the distraction the class work brought.

Right before final hour, Kimberly retreated into the bathroom, promising her friends she'd meet them at class. As she washed her hands, she glanced at her appearance in the mirror and again thought of the boy in her dreams. Why did he look so much like her? If she didn't know any better, she'd claim he was a twin brother or at the very least a cousin, but she knew that she didn't have a brother and she knew all her cousins, and none of them looked like him, at least normally. As she lost herself in her thoughts about the dream boy again, the bell rang, signaling the start of class. Kimberly cursed herself and looked around the bathroom, glad that it was devoid of girls. She turned invisible and intangible and flew towards Mr. Lancer's door. She stopped just outside it and returned to normal before entering the classroom.

"Ms. Jordan, thank you for joining us. Please take a seat," Mr. Lancer welcomed as he smiled. That was one nice thing about being popular, the teachers didn't care about whether you were late or not.

A minute later, another student entered the classroom, trying to sneak in while Lancer was writing notes on the board.

"That's a detention Mr. Matthews," Mr. Lancer stated, not taking his eyes away from the board. The boy nodded his head sadly and slunk to his seat, looking depressed.

Kimberly felt bad as she looked at the boy. She was late and she didn't receive detention, yet he did, and even though she appreciated not receiving detention, she still felt bad that not everyone received equal treatment. She'd always known Mr. Lancer to be a bit harsh on everyone, including the populars, but it seemed like she alone received special treatment, and since freshman year she'd wondered why. Why did Lancer favor her above all the other students at Phantom High?

Finally class was over and as she was about to leave Mr. Lancer called her name.

"Ms. Jordan, may I speak with you for a moment?"

"Of course Mr. Lancer," she added sweetly.

"Now, Ms. Jordan, I've worked hard at building my reputation. Ever since…well…let's just say I like to be known as the model of equal treatment among all students. In that manner, I'd like you to inform Mr. Stevens that he may have escaped punishment this time, but next time he chooses to pick on a student, he will have me to answer to, do you understand?"

"Yes sir. And, if you don't mind me asking, why did you spare him?"

"Well," Mr. Lancer looked a little uncomfortable. "He hadn't done anything wrong yet…so I didn't think he deserved to be punished. Later I found out that he had started it, so I immediately felt bad, so just be sure to convey my little message, alright."

"Yes Mr. Lancer," she agreed. She stood in front of the desk, waiting for Mr. Lancer to dismiss her, but he just kept staring at her, looking like he was lost in memories. "Um, Mr. Lancer? Are you alright?"

"You just look so much like…oh never mind. Off you go now. School's over, there's no need to stay longer than necessary."

Kimberly walked out of the room and she heard Mr. Lancer sigh and then open his drawer. He usually did this after they had a conversation, which happened quite often. She never knew what he pulled out, but she had long since wondered. She met up with Noelle and Jacob outside the school beneath their favorite tree.

"What did Mr. Lancer want?" Noelle asked.

"The usual, tell me that he wasn't giving anyone special treatment while he gives me special treatment."

"I don't understand him, why does he talk to you about this stuff all the time?" Jacob asked.

"Why does he talk to me about stuff period?" Kimberly asked in confusion. "I mean, it would make sense if I was a troubled teen or something, but I'm not. I mean, he asks me about my family and how I'm doing all the time. I just don't understand!"

"Me neither. Did he stare into space while looking at you again?" Noelle asked.

"Yup. And then started going on about how I look like someone. Then I left and he sighed and opened his drawer."

"I still think you should spy on him. You can go invisible and intangible, you might as well use it," Jacob urged.

"You know, I think I will. I don't think my curiosity can't take it anymore. Once he leaves his classroom, I'm going to see what he has in his drawer."

* * *

A/N: Again, I know there's really no action, but this chapter and the next are designed to set up the necessary background for the story (which is a lot) and to develop Kimberly, Noelle, and Jacob and their interactions together. But, chapter five is where the real fun begins...

And just a note before people start flooding me with reviews about the explosive power, that has nothing to do with A Secret Uncovered and there is no correlation present. I just liked the power so much that I gave it to Kimberly as well. There's nothing special about it at all, and you can take that to the grave.


	4. The Photograph

A/N: Yay chapter four, which means we're closer to chapter five! I'm so excited!

I really like this chapter, because not only does it provide the last bit of imporant information before the main plot starts, but it shows the interactions between Kimberly and her friends, which is so much fun to write, especially Jacob. You'll see as you read on. I based him off one of my friends, so it's really fun.

Thanks to everyone for their support and patience!

* * *

Chapter Four  
The Photograph

Kimberly and her accomplices in crime sat under their tree for hours, waiting for Lancer to leave his room so they could open the drawer and finally discover what it was that Lancer looked at after he talked with Kimberly.

"Does this guy _ever_ leave the school?" Jacob asked as he added another leaf to the already large pile of sticks and leaves in front of him.

"I'm starting to think that he doesn't. What time is it?" Noelle asked, doodling in the dirt with a stick as she lay on her stomach in the grass.

"Quarter to five," Kimberly answered with a sigh. They'd been out there for almost two hours.

"I rest my case. He's the teacher that clarifies the theory that teachers live in the school. Tomorrow I'm going to examine the classroom and see if I can find a spot where a bed is hidden behind a wall or under the floor."

"Jacob, don't be stupid. He's got to leave at some point," Noelle reasoned.

"Well hopefully that 'some point' comes soon," Kimberly remarked as she continued to stare at the windows to Lancer's classroom, waiting for the light to turn off.

"Maybe he doesn't turn the light of his room off. What if he really left a long time ago but never turned the light off?" Noelle asked.

"Wishful thinking. People don't pack up their stuff and lock the door without turning out the light."

Finally they ceased seeing the yellow light through the window as the light was shut off.

"Thank the Lord," Kimberly remarked as she stood up. White rings of light formed around her waist, transforming her clothes into a black and white jumpsuit, her black hair to a white ponytail, and her blue eyes to glowing green. She grabbed her two friends and turned all three of them invisible and intangible and flew up through the window and into the deserted classroom. She headed towards the desk drawer while Noelle flipped on the lights.

"Man, he even has the desk drawer locked," Kimberly remarked as she looked at the drawer. "Must be something important. What do you…Jacob, what are you doing?" she asked as she looked up and saw him walking slowly around the room, his hand on his chin.

"Looking for the hidden bed, and maybe a fridge and a couch."

"You can't be serious," Kimberly remarked in disbelief.

"Hey Kimberly, do you think you could fly through the gap in between the walls and see if you can see a bed or something?"

"Oh God, he is serious," Noelle stated as she continued to stare at him.

"Jacob, can we please focus on what we came up here for?" Kimberly asked.

"I'm listening. You may have come up here for the puzzling object, but I came up here to solve the mystery."

Noelle sighed. "We've already had proof that your theory's wrong. Lancer left, which means he can't live here."

"He could have just left to get some food. I have yet to find a fridge or a microwave."

"Yeah, and you have yet to find a bed either."

"Which is why I'm still looking for it."

"I give up. Just see what's in the drawer."

Kimberly nodded and stuck her hand through the drawer, feeling around for something interesting, something out of the ordinary.

"You'd think he'd keep it right on top since he looks at it so often," Kimberly muttered as she continued to sift through the contents of the drawer. "Oh screw this." She placed both hands into the drawer and pulled out the entire contents of the drawer.

"You know, this probably isn't the best thing to be doing," Noelle commented as she saw that the paper on the top was a graded essay.

"Got any better ideas? I can't find it and if, by some miracle, Jacob's theory is right, Lancer might be coming back soon. Plus, it's not like I'm doing anything with them."

"With what?" Jacob asked as he turned his attention away from the wall. "Hey, are those essays?" he asked excitedly as he ran over to the desk, his theory forgotten.

"No," Noelle reprimanded as she grabbed the stack of papers and held them to her chest.

"Oh come on. Why won't you let me look at my grade?"

"Because I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later. We shouldn't even have these out anyways."

"It's not like I'm going to change it or anything," Jacob begged as he stretched his hands out towards the stack of papers.

"I said no!" Noelle fought as she jerked the papers away from him. As she did, something fell out of the papers. Kimberly saw it and dove for it, catching it before it hit the floor.

"Now look what you did!" Noelle yelled at Jacob.

"What I did? Hey, you're the one who had to jerk them out of the way in the first place."

"Only because you wouldn't listen!"

As they bickered, Kimberly looked at the object she had caught. It was a wooden picture frame with a nice oak finish. She flipped it over and looked at the picture. It was a black and white photo with Lancer standing next to a boy in a graduation cap and gown. The boy was smiling wide and Lancer had his hand proudly on the boy's shoulder.

"Guys, I think this is it," she interrupted as she stood up. They immediately stopped their banter and looked at the picture.

"So this is what Lancer pulls out after class all the time?" Noelle asked.

"But it's just a photograph of some guy," Jacob added, his voice colored with depression. "I was hoping it was something more interesting."

"There must be something important about this boy. Does Lancer have a son?" Kimberly asked.

"I don't think Lancer even has a wife," Noelle added sadly.

"That's because no one wants to live at the school with him."

Noelle and Kimberly groaned as they looked back at the picture.

"It's strange, but there's something familiar about this boy," Kimberly stated as she continued to look at the boy in the picture.

"What do you mean?" Noelle asked.

"It just seems like I've seen him before, somewhere. I can't put a finger on it, but I know I've seen him before."

"Maybe it would help if the picture was in color," Jacob suggested. "And who makes a photo in black and white any more? I mean, it can't be that old, since Lancer doesn't look too young."

"Maybe that's Lancer's dad and the boy is Lancer," Noelle suggested.

"No, this is definitely Lancer. No one looks that much like their father."

"Well I don't know, but I doubt continuing to stare at the photo will help us any. It's time for dinner and I'm hungry, so let's go."

"Yeah, Lancer could be coming back any minute now."

"Alright," Kimberly agreed, though she didn't want to pull herself away from the mesmerizing picture. There was just something about that boy…

She grabbed her two friends and turned them invisible and intangible.

"Hey, why don't we just wait here for Lancer?" Jacob asked as Kimberly was about to fly them out the window.

"What?" Kimberly and Noelle both asked, though Kimberly had a feeling she didn't want to know.

"We can sit in here, invisible, and watch him. Then we can know for sure whether or not he lives in the classroom or not."

Kimberly groaned and lifted them up into the air, flying them out of the classroom, to Jacob's protests.

* * *

After dropping her friends off, Kimberly arrived at her house, entering through the front door. She headed to her father's study and knocked on the door.

"Enter," her father permitted and she opened the door to his study. She always loved this room and swore that one day she'd get her own study just like it. The walls were lined with bookshelves, including the back of the door. There were busts of famous philosophers intermingled with the books on the shelves. The room was usually dim, since the only light was a Victorian lamp on her father's desk that lit up the desk and the immediate area around it.

"Ah Kimberly. Back from Jacob's I see?"

"Yup. Just came in to let you know I'm back."

"Excellent. Have a lot of homework?"

"Of course. But I'll finish it in time."

"I assume you had dinner there?"

"Oh, yup," she answered, hoping that her starving stomach wouldn't give her away. Only after changing to her normal form did she realize that she was absolutely starving.

"Good, because we ate without you."

"That's all right."

Her father smiled. "Well, I suppose you should get to your homework."

"Alright." She started heading out the door when she turned around. "Father, does Mr. Lancer have a son?"

"Mr. Lancer? I don't think so. If he does he's never mentioned one. No actually, I'm quite sure he doesn't. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I just saw a picture of him with some boy and I thought it might be his son, but I guess not. He just looked so familiar."

Her father looked at her, his eyes meeting hers. "Well, I wouldn't give it too much thought. It could just be a cousin or nephew or something."

Kimberly nodded her head and wished her father a goodnight as she headed out the door. As she shut the door, she heard her father pick up the phone.

As she walked up the stairs, she knew that something was up. There was more to that picture, which was why it was hidden so well. Her father knew more than what he was telling her. It was probably something she wasn't supposed to have seen, judging by how her father's usually jovial mood changed after she mentioned the picture. But what could possibly be so important about that specific picture? Was it something about the boy? Was she not supposed to know anything about that boy, whoever he was?

Once she got to her room she went onto her computer and talked to her friends via video instant messaging. They talked about the possible significance of the photograph well into the night while they worked on their homework, not coming to a single conclusion by the time they decided they needed to get a few precious hours of sleep.

Again, Kimberly was visited by the flying boy in her dreams and like all the other times, she spent the night flying with him, feeling comfort in his presence, until the bright rays of the sun peeked into her room and the alarm clock sounded, waking her from her slumber.

* * *

The next day at school passed by normally. Kimberly hung out with her friends, went to her classes, the usual, but she was only partially aware of what she was doing. Her mind was elsewhere, on the photograph they had found in Lancer's drawer. It still puzzled her and try as she might, she just couldn't get it out of her head, and she could tell Noelle and Jacob couldn't either. All three of them liked to know stuff, didn't like being left in the dark. It bothered them, like a piece of dust bothered an obsessive compulsive cleaner.

Finally they entered Lancer's class. He passed back the essays they had seen in the drawer, which restarted Noelle and Jacob's fight in notes they'd pass back and forth to each other. Normally Kimberly would have found their written argument amusing since she knew the real reasons for why they argued, but she found it extremely hard to focus. She barely looked at the grade she received on her essay. She just continuously found herself staring at the drawer, knowing that the picture was in there, the picture that occupied all her thoughts.

Finally class was over and with one final look at the drawer Kimberly started heading out the door. She looked up and saw Lancer looking curiously at her and she quickly turned her head and hurried out the door.

The three of them headed to Kimberly's house, having their bi-weekly sleepover. They had had one the week before, but they figured that they needed one this week. They needed to get their minds off that photograph, and the best way to do that was with a movie marathon.

They grabbed sustenance and locked themselves in Kimberly's room where they took their usual seats in front of the wall-sized television and popped in the first Lord of the Rings movie, starting what they dubbed "Ringfest."

About halfway through the third one they decided to call it quits, not being able to stay awake any longer. Jacob headed to the guest bedroom, or what Kimberly liked to refer to as "Jacob's room" while she and Noelle shared her bed. She wrapped herself under the covers and drifted into dreamless sleep.

* * *

A/N: Like I've been saying, some action and the main plot will be coming next chapter. These chapters were just a really long exposition and to introduce Kimberly and her friends since they will be central to the plot.

Now, I know that any normal person would have been able to notice the similarities between the boy in her dreams and the boy in the photograph, but I figured that if Danny's own parents couldn't even notice the similarities, then a stranger wouldn't be able to either, as unbelievable as it may seem.

And Ringfest was a nod to a marathon my friends and I actually had. Fourteen hours of LOTR straight…what a thing of beauty.

Chapter five next! And just as a fun little spoiler, the next chapter's called "Meeting Danny"


	5. Meeting Danny

A/N: Yay! It's chapter five! You don't know how excited I am to finally get here! I've been looking forward to writing all the stuff after this chapter for so long but I promised myself I wouldn't because this is the chapter where things get start to get interesting. This chapter triggers the start of their journey for answers. Yay, I'm so excited!

Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews and your interest in this story! You guys deserve more praise than I can even begin to give.

* * *

Chapter Five  
Meeting Danny

Kimberly awoke with a start. She sat up and looked around her room, wondering what could have happened to wake her so abruptly. She looked over at Noelle who was still fast asleep. It couldn't have been a noise; Noelle was a much lighter sleeper than she was and she would have definitely woken up. Then she started shivering and felt extremely cold. She gasped as she saw blue vapor emerge from her mouth, like she could see her breath. She shook Noelle awake, hoping to get some answers.

"Mmf, what do you want?" Noelle asked as she buried her head further into her pillow.

"Noelle, are you cold?"

"No why?"

"Because I'm freezing."

"Then cover up."

"Noelle, I can see my breath!"

"Well I don't know. It's like three in the morning. How'm I supposed to know what's going on, I can't even think coherently."

Then the two of them heard repeated bumps and rolls, like someone was falling down the stairs. Noelle sat up quickly, her groggy feeling gone and replaced with terror. They both looked at each other, not really knowing what to do. The blue mist was still emitting from Kimberly's mouth.

"Did you hear that?" Kimberly asked through her chattering teeth.

"Yeah, did you?"

"Yeah. What do you think it was?"

"It sounded like someone falling down the stairs," Noelle stated as they heard more bumps as the mystery person fell down another flight of stairs.

"I've never heard anyone fall down the stairs in your house before, especially at this hour."

"No one's usually awake at this hour." Suddenly Kimberly didn't feel cold anymore. _That's really odd. Why was I so cold just then?_

"Do you think maybe it was Jacob?" Noelle suggested.

"No, he knows the house too well to fall down the stairs. He always runs downstairs for a midnight snack so he's used to maneuvering around the house in the dark."

"But how could anyone get in? You guys have the best alarm system on the planet!"

"I don't know."

Then they saw the door to Kimberly's bedroom creak open. Kimberly grabbed Noelle and turned both of them invisible, just in case there really was someone in the house. Kimberly sighed in relief to see that the mystery person was only Jacob who had obviously heard the noise as well. He looked around curiously, wondering where the two of them had gone. Kimberly let go of Noelle and turned visible as Jacob jumped.

"Don't do that!" he whispered harshly as he walked in and shut the door. "You scared the crap outta me!"

"Sorry," Kimberly apologized. "I thought you were the person in the house."

"You heard that noise too?" he asked.

"Yeah," they both answered.

"But wait, how did you hear it?" Noelle asked, puzzled. "You sleep like a rock!"

"Well, I woke up a few minutes before the noise with the munchies, so I got up, used the bathroom, and was about to head downstairs when I heard that noise. I didn't know who it was, so I headed over to your room."

"Well, it wasn't us," Noelle stated.

"Well then, who was it?"

"There's only one way to find out," Kimberly stated, her eyes flashing green as she pulled herself out of bed.

The three of them quietly sneaked out of the room, heading towards the master staircase, since it was the only staircase in the house that had two flights of stairs next to each other.

When they reached the steps they stared down into darkness.

"I can't see a thing," Noelle whispered.

"Me neither," Jacob agreed.

"Well I don't think we should turn on a light; that might be slightly dangerous if it is a burglar," Noelle advised.

"So then what do you propose we do? If it is a burglar I'm not going down there!" Jacob whispered angrily.

Kimberly lifted her hand up, a ball of the green energy forming in her hand, casting an eerie green glow around them.

"I still don't see anything. Do you think we need more light?" Jacob asked.

"I don't think we should risk anymore," Kimberly answered.

"Maybe we just imagined it?" Noelle pondered.

"How could all three of us imagine it? Someone or something fell down the stairs!" Jacob retorted.

"Well then they got up and ran away," Noelle replied.

"Who can get up after falling down two flights of marble stairs?" Kimberly asked. "They'd be unconscious at the least, maybe even dead!"

Kimberly started walking gingerly down the stairs until she reached the landing. She gasped as the green glow beheld a teenage boy lying face down, sprawled out on the last few steps. She ran down to him, praying that he wasn't dead. She heard Noelle and Jacob stand over her as she checked his pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief, the boy was still alive. A little cold, but still alive.

"He's alive," she stated thankfully.

"Well then, let's wake him up," Jacob suggested.

"He just fell down two flights of stairs, I don't think he's going to be waking up anytime soon!" Noelle reasoned.

"Well then what are we supposed to do with him?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Noelle asked. "It's three something in the morning and my brain doesn't officially function until the double digits."

"Well we can't leave him here, my parents would freak, and we can't put him in my room because my parents would freak even more." Kimberly tried to think of a place to put him. She really didn't know what to do. She knew she couldn't leave him here, but she didn't really think it was safe to bring him anywhere, just incase he was dangerous. But, if he was, she could protect them. "I know, let's put him in one of the spare bedrooms."

The three of them turned the boy over and realized he had a pretty handsome face that was bumped and scraped from the fall. They picked him up and carried him upstairs and then set him gently on the bed. They pulled three armchairs next to the bed and sat there, waiting for him to wake up. Eventually they drifted into sleep.

* * *

"Kimberly, wake up!" Jacob commanded as Kimberly opened her eyes.

"What is it?" she asked sleepily.

"The boy's awake."

She immediately shook herself awake and gazed at the boy. He had raven black hair and startling china blue eyes. Upon looking at him, she noticed that he looked almost exactly like her. The nose was different, but everything else was the same. The boy must have also noticed because he was looking at her in disbelief and shock, and she knew her expression was mirroring his. Noelle and Jacob must have also noticed the similarities because they started looking back and forth at both of them.

"Wow. Do you guys see what I see?" Noelle asked.

"Yeah," Jacob and Kimberly both answered.

"It's like he's your long lost twin brother or something!"

"I do not have a twin brother/sister!" Kimberly and the boy yelled at the same time.

"Alright, it was just a suggestion. How else do you explain this?"

"I don't. This must just be a weird coincidence or something. They say that everyone has a look alike on the planet somewhere, but they don't necessarily need to be related," Kimberly responded.

"The Doppleganger effect," Jacob added.

"Yeah, that."

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt," the boy stated "but who are you and what am I doing here?"

"We were just about to ask you the same question," Jacob remarked.

"I'm Danny," he introduced.

"Jacob."

"Noelle."

"Kimberly. Now, I hope you don't find me rude, but what are you doing in my house?"

The boy called Danny sighed. "I know this'll sound a little strange, but I have no idea."

"You don't know why you're here?" Noelle asked suspiciously.

"Not a clue."

"Then how did you get in here?" Jacob questioned.

"I don't know. I woke up and it was all dark. I walked a few feet and then I fell down the stairs. I stood up, feeling a little sore, walked a few feet, and then fell down some more stairs. Then I woke up in here."

"What were you doing before you woke up?" Noelle drilled.

"Oh…I was…just…sleeping."

"You were sleeping?"

"Yeah."

Noelle and Jacob looked at her, conveying their thoughts through their looks. After so many years of knowing each other the three of them had a form of unspoken language communicated through looks and small gestures. Right now, Kimberly could tell that they believed him just about as much as she did, which was very little. No one goes to sleep and wakes up in someone else's house, especially if that house is protected with some of the best security known to mankind.

"So…how did you get from your bed to the second floor of Kimberly's house without setting off the alarms?" Jacob asked.

"I told you I don't know! I don't know how I got here or why I'm here!"

"Alright, we weren't accusing you, we were just curious," Noelle assured.

"Kimberly's got the best security system a home could have. Tucker Foley himself designed it."

The name seemed to trigger something in Danny's mind. "Wait, Tucker Foley?"

"Yeah, he's a friend of the family and as a favor he designed and installed the security system," Kimberly explained. "Even I have a hard time getting past it, and I live here. So, needless to say, we're really curious as to how you were able to get in."

"And we know, you don't know," Jacob responded as he saw Danny open his mouth to protest.

"So, you're what, fifteen?" Noelle asked, trying to establish casual conversation.

"Sixteen. You?"

"We're fifteen," Noelle responded.

"So…does that mean you go to Phantom High?" Jacob asked.

"What? Oh, yeah," he replied after some hesitation.

"How come I've never seen you around?" Kimberly asked suspiciously.

"Well…it's a big school and…I'm not that popular, so I just…like to hide out on the side and not be noticed."

What he said had some truth to it. She didn't know everyone at the school, and she was the most popular one in it, so he could still be telling the truth. Still, something didn't seem right.

"So then you must live around here, right?" Jacob asked, trying to sound conversational.

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"Amity," he answered slowly, sounding a bit unsure if he should answer the question.

"Amity?" Kimberly asked, confused.

"Dude, this place hasn't been called Amity since Danny Fenton disappeared fifteen years ago," Jacob stated, eying him suspiciously. "It's now Jordan Park, after Kimberly's parents."

"You just had to bring that up, didn't you?" Kimberly asked, knowing that Jacob liked to tease her about her family's insane wealth.

"Oh…I knew that. It's just…my parents…they still call it Amity."

"Weird, I thought everyone wanted to get that name out of their heads because it reminded them too much of Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom," Kimberly remarked.

"Oh, well my parents like to be reminded of them."

"So, where do you live?" Noelle repeated.

"Over the hill by the Nasty Burger."

"You mean by Danny Fenton's old house?" Kimberly asked as Danny nodded. "That's the old part of town. I didn't think anyone lived there anymore. Well, I guess that would explain why your parents still call it Amity."

"What's with all the questions?" Danny asked, a little annoyed.

"We were just trying to be conversational. We just wanted to keep a conversation going while we try to figure out what to do. I don't really like silence," Kimberly answered calmly while smiling slightly. It's true that she didn't like silences, but the "trying to be conversational" part was a lie. She really wanted to know how he got here and the only way she'd know that was if she asked him more questions, but the last thing she wanted was for him to get angry. If he got angry, he'd get defensive, and that would lead to no answers or cooperation at all.

"Well, I appreciate what you're doing, but I don't usually pour out my life's history to people I've just met."

"Really? I thought that's what people usually do when they get introduced, they ask each other questions about their life," Jacob replied smartly.

Danny sighed, looking a little ashamed. "I'm sorry. I know I'm probably sounding like a jerk, but it just sounded like I was in an interrogation room and I got a little defensive. I mean, I've just woken up in an unfamiliar room surrounded by unfamiliar people asking me a ton of questions. I have no clue how I got here and to top it all off, I've got a massive headache," he explained as he rubbed his head gingerly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry too. We were being a little too forward," Kimberly apologized.

"We just wanted to help," Noelle added.

"I know, and I appreciate it, but I just…I need to…get home," Danny stated as he sat up straighter in the bed.

"But aren't you curious as to how you ended up in here?" Jacob asked.

"Well, I guess, but curiosity doesn't lead to answers. I probably just sleepwalked; it's the only logical explanation. My parents have all these stories about the weird things I've done while sleepwalking, so it's not too far of a stretch."

"But then how did you get past the alarms?"

"They weren't turned on? Look, I don't know and I don't…" Danny started to say before Kimberly interrupted him.

"Oh my gosh, you're bleeding!" Kimberly yelled, seeing a line of red blood dripping down the side of his face and onto his shirt. Danny placed his hand to his head and drew it back, his fingers coated in blood.

"Here, I'll go get the first aid kit," Kimberly stated as she left the room. "This should stop the bleeding." She put some ointment on a cloth and started to move towards his head but he jerked his head out of the way.

"I've got it."

"Alright," Kimberly conceded and handed him the cloth. He put it to his head and held it there, letting it soak up the blood. "You should probably have someone check that out."

"It should be fine, I've had worse," Danny stated quickly. "Thanks for your help though. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really need to go…"

"Go where?" Noelle asked curiously.

"To the hospital?" Kimberly asked. "Because that's where I think you should go."

"No!" Danny yelled as the three of them jumped in shock. "No, no, definitely not the hospital. It's not that bad, seriously. I'm totally fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Totally. That's the last place I need to go."

Kimberly continued to look at him before turning to Noelle and Jacob. They were just as suspicious as she was. Danny obviously didn't want to go to the hospital, and she could tell by his reaction that it wasn't because he was afraid. He was hiding something, something that the hospital might be able to uncover. But what could a hospital uncover? Sure they could run DNA tests and stuff like that, but why would that be bad? Was he in fact some kind of wanted criminal? But if he was he would have done something by now, like tried to hurt them or try to steal something.

Danny obviously could sense her apprehension. "Look, it's not a big deal. I'm just really scared of the hospital. When I was little my grandfather died in the hospital. Since then I haven't entered one unless I really had to."

"So, if you don't think you need to go to a hospital, then where do you need to go?" Noelle asked.

"Home. I'm sure my parents are really worried."

"Aren't they asleep?" Jacob asked.

"Well yeah, but my mom wakes up during the night a lot and likes to check on me. If I wasn't in my bed, well, let's just say I wouldn't get to see the light of day for awhile."

"But you really shouldn't be walking. You just fell down two flights of stairs, you have a concussion, and your head is bleeding," Kimberly advised.

"I know, but I think I would have much worse injuries if I didn't get home."

"Alright, but we're coming with you. I can't let you walk alone injured like this," Kimberly reasoned. She also wanted to get more information out of him. She could tell he was hiding something, and he seemed nervous when people asked him questions. There was definitely something interesting about Danny.

Danny looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it. "Alright, fine."

* * *

A/N: And the adventure begins. Stick around, things only get more interesting from here...


	6. Danny Fenton

A/N: Alright, this chapter provides a lot more insight into the public's view on Danny's disappearance and just Danny and his friends and family in general. But of course after this chapter we'll begin to enter the realm of what really happened. Oh, I'm so excited! And I even know what happened!

Again, thanks so much for all the reviews! You guys are amazing!

* * *

Chapter Six  
Danny Fenton

"Are you sure your parents aren't going to freak out Kimberly?" Noelle asked as they walked out the front door.

"Relax, I left a note with Sylvia telling her what happened. She's going to tell my parents that we stayed up really late watching movies and we're just sleeping in. Besides, we should be okay. I mean, it's not going to take us that late into the day to get there and back, right?" Kimberly had every intention of flying them home once they saw Danny safely to his house.

"Good, because I don't want to get in trouble with my parents. If they knew I was sneaking out this late they'd never – ahh!" Noelle yelled as she tripped over something and fell to the floor. Kimberly looked down and saw two people lying on the ground in front of them.

"Tucker, Sam!" Danny yelled as he bent over them, making sure they were all right.

"You know these two?" Kimberly asked.

"Yeah, they're my best friends," Danny explained as he started trying to wake them up. Kimberly looked at them closely and saw that there was a boy and a girl lying there. The girl was dressed all in black and purple and had short black hair with some pulled into a pony-tail in the back. The boy was African American and wore a yellow shirt, glasses, and a red beret.

"So wait, what are your friends doing here?" Jacob asked, confusion and suspicion coloring his voice.

"If I don't know how I got here, how am I supposed to know how they did? They must've gotten here the same way I did. We were…having a sleep over at my place."

"Oh," he answered, obviously not believing him. "And how, do you figure, they got here? I doubt they decided to sleep walk with you and end up outside."

"What are you suggesting?" Danny asked defensively.

"I'm suggesting that you three planned this somehow. For some reason the three of you wanted to get into the house."

"Hey, we are not burglars!"

"I never said you were burglars. You probably are just a bunch of jealous losers who wanted to get back at the most popular girl in school by playing some dumb prank on her house!"

"Jacob," Kimberly warned, not wanting to accuse the boy without proof of anything.

"Wait, the most popular…never mind. I did _not_ come here to play a prank on her! I didn't even come here at all, at least not on purpose. I swear, I don't know how I got here!"

"You've got to admit, it is a little coincidental that the three of you happen to all end up at the same house," Noelle added.

"Did you maybe have a few drinks? That could do it," Kimberly suggested.

"Maybe, I don't know," Danny replied quietly.

Finally the boy stirred and started taking in his surroundings.

"Weird, when did we get outside?" Tucker asked.

"I don't know," Danny answered. "I ended up inside the house. The last thing I remember was nodding off during our CSI marathon."

"Oh…yeah…me too. Last thing I remember is something about this bratty chick blowing up a lab or something. Man, we must've done some major sleepwalking or something."

"Yeah, I guess," Danny stated as he continued to try to wake up his other friend.

"Oh, I don't believe we've met. I'm…" the boy began to introduce.

"This is my friend Tucker," Danny interrupted quickly. "Watch out, he's going to try and hit on you. That's what he always does when he meets new girls."

"I wasn't going to hit on them," Tucker argued back. "I was simply introducing myself. And to what do I have the honor of meeting such fine ladies?"

"Tucker, stop," Danny warned. "This is Kimberly, she lives in this house."

"You live here?" Tucker asked in amazement as he looked at the large mansion in front of him. Kimberly nodded, a blush creeping up her cheeks. Tucker whistled. "Somebody's got it made! And I thought Sam was rich!"

"And those are her two friends Noelle and Jacob," Danny continued to introduce. "They were just going to walk me home because they didn't think it would be safe for me to go alone."

"Oh, that's very nice of you. But, Sam and I can handle it from here, once she wakes up of course," Tucker informed them.

"No, we'd like to come along. We want to make sure he got back okay since we were the ones who found him."

Tucker looked over at Danny who Kimberly noticed gave a slight nod. Obviously Danny was the ringleader of the group, that or this was his idea, so it was by default his job to make the decisions.

"Well, the more the merrier! I just didn't want to force you to walk all that way if we could just walk him there."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Noelle reasoned.

"Tucker, come help me wake up Sam," Danny requested as Tucker ran over to help their friend. Kimberly took a few casual steps back until they were out of whispering range. Noelle and Jacob followed her, getting the hint that they wanted to talk.

"What's up?" Jacob whispered.

"There's something weird going on here," Kimberly stated.

"Tell me about it," Jacob agreed as Noelle nodded her head in agreement.

"It's just, I keep getting this feeling that he's not being completely truthful, at least in most circumstances. He's still hiding something, something big. Notice how he always gets really defensive and nervous when the topic comes to him or how he got into the house. I think he knows the answer and just doesn't want to tell us."

"But why would he do that?" Noelle asked.

"I don't know. But whatever the reason, I don't think he wanted to end up here."

"Hey guys, she's up!" Tucker yelled to them. They walked closer, Sam eyeing them suspiciously.

"Who are you?" the Goth girl asked.

"I'm Kimberly and these are my friends Noelle and Jacob. We found Danny inside my house after he fell down the stairs and we brought him upstairs."

Sam still looked at the two of them suspiciously. Kimberly got the strange feeling that Sam was awake well before they told the two of them and that they had been talking between themselves. Although, Kimberly couldn't really blame them because she and her friends had done the same thing.

As they started walking towards Danny's house Kimberly, Noelle, and Jacob walked ahead, guiding the group, as Danny, Sam, and Tucker held back beyond hearing distance. Kimberly could tell they were still whispering comments to each other, but she didn't care. She actually appreciated the gap because that meant she could whisper to Jacob and Noelle.

"I really wish I knew what was going on," Jacob moaned. Kimberly nodded in agreement. The two of them hated it when things were hidden from them, which is why being popular appealed to them so much; whenever something happened, they always knew about it.

"It's weird. It all seems so strange, and yet so familiar. It's like I've met the three of them before, but I can't place where."

"Maybe you saw them at school?" Noelle suggested.

"I don't think so. I can't recall ever seeing them before."

"I'm starting to believe they don't go to the school," Jacob remarked. "I mean, Danny seemed shocked to find out that you were the most popular girl in school, and anyone who goes to that school would know about that."

"But they're sixteen! If they don't go to Phantom High then where do they go? There's no other high school even close, especially if they live near Danny Fenton's old house."

Before they could get an answer Tucker walked up next to them, ending their conversation.

"Sorry to interrupt you, but I just wanted to apologize for our earlier actions. We're just a little disoriented and I just wanted to let you know that we appreciate your help, even if our actions don't really convey that."

"Oh, that's perfectly alright."

"That's good. I figure that through this we can form a beautiful friendship, don't you?" he asked, directed towards Noelle.

"I guess…" Noelle answered while looking over at a smiling Kimberly. Tucker was hitting on her. Just the thought of it was hilarious.

"So, tell me about yourself. Where were you born? How long have you been living here?"

Noelle looked over at Kimberly with a pleading look but Kimberly gestured for her to go along. She might be able to find something out through Tucker who seemed more open than Danny and definitely more open than Sam, who hadn't given them anything but an evil look since she woke up.

"Oh I can't believe he's hitting on her," Jacob muttered bitterly. Kimberly had long since believed that Jacob and Noelle were unofficially going out. They were really close and anyone who spent enough time with them could tell that they liked each other, even if they were too afraid to admit it.

"I'm going to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Jacob told Kimberly as he walked ahead to catch up with the two of them. Kimberly could see that Noelle looked quite relieved to see him there.

Kimberly started to trail behind so she could catch some of Danny and Sam's conversation. She wasn't quite sure whether they had sent Tucker forward to distract them so they couldn't conspire together or whether he had just done it out of his own free will. She preferred to think the latter, but she wouldn't put it past them, especially with the way Sam looked at them. She definitely seemed the devious type.

"I can't believe it, Tucker's flirting with her," Kimberly heard Sam say.

"Well, you know Tucker, he never passes up an opportunity to get a girlfriend."

"But doesn't he know it's not possible?"

"Truthfully, I don't think he cares."

"What about that Kimberly girl? She looks so much like you!"

"I know. It's actually kinda scary."

"What do you think it means?"

"I don't know, but I know it means something. It has to. It can't be just a coincidence, given the circumstances."

Then they stopped talking, obviously noticing that Kimberly was trailing behind the group and well within hearing distance. She heard the two of them pick up their pace and stride even with her.

"So, what's up with this Danny Fenton guy?" Danny asked as they passed a poster left over from the memorial service.

"You mean you don't know? I thought everyone in this city knew." Now she was really suspicious. Everyone knew about Danny Fenton, everyone.

"Well, I know about him, but I really don't know any details. My parents don't really like to talk about him."

Kimberly still didn't quite believe him. If he was this curious, he could have asked almost anyone, since everyone knew about Danny Fenton.

"Didn't you go to the memorial service a few days ago?" Kimberly asked.

Danny and Sam stopped dead. "M-memorial service?" he stuttered.

The others noticed they'd stopped and turned around and walked back, wanting to see what the fuss was about.

"Yeah. Are you guys out from out of state or something?" Kimberly asked.

"Um…well see…I haven't been exactly truthful with you guys. My parents aren't actually my parents. My real parents…died a few weeks ago and now I'm…living with my aunt and uncle who live here. So I just moved here and I really don't know anything about this place."

Well, that made a little more sense. It explained why she hadn't seen him in school since he was new and why he didn't really know anything. But still things seemed suspicious.

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Well, I didn't really think it was important. Plus, I'm not that comfortable talking about it; I'm trying to forget about it."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

"And what about Sam and Tucker?" Kimberly asked.

"They're my friends from California, where I used to live. They're spending the weekend here, which is why we really need to get home. Otherwise my parents, my aunt and uncle, won't let them come out here again."

"Alright that makes sense."

"Now, what did you mean by 'memorial service'?" Sam asked with trepidation, as if she was afraid to ask.

"The memorial service for Danny Fenton and his family and Danny Phantom. There's one held every year in their honor to commemorate the day they went missing."

"Missing?" Danny asked curiously.

"Yeah. About fifteen years ago Danny, his wife Sam, and their daughter Victoria were found missing in their mansion." Danny and Sam looked shocked to hear this information. "After a year of searching no one found anything and they were officially pronounced dead."

"But why hold a city-wide memorial service for them?" Tucker asked as Danny and Sam seemed lost for words.

"Well, Danny had done a lot of good for the city. He built FentonWorks and found a way to make really cheap energy out of ghost ectoplasm. He used a lot of his money to build up Amity and the people loved him. When he went missing he was running for Mayor."

"Do you have any clue as to why or how they went missing?" Danny asked in a very business-like manner, finally finding his voice.

"Nothing. The police don't have any leads, they never have. No one really hated him enough to do anything bad to him on purpose and it wasn't political since there really wasn't any opposition to him running for mayor. Even the other candidate wanted Danny to win. The most logical thought was ghosts, but Danny Phantom had rid the city of ghosts a few years prior and they hadn't been seen since. Of course, I probably sound really silly talking about ghosts."

"No, not at all. My aunt and uncle actually like ghosts strangely enough. They've told me a lot about them, especially about this Danny Phantom character. What do you know about him?"

"Well, he was a good ghost that saved the city from other ghosts that wanted to take over the world. There were ghosts constantly attacking the city from 2005 to 2014. Then after the defeat of Plasmius, the ghost attacks practically stopped. Danny Phantom still lingered around though, even though it was unnecessary. But still, my parents said that it felt comforting to know that Danny Phantom was still out there, patrolling the city, just in case.

"Then, after the Fentons disappeared, people began to notice that Danny Phantom had disappeared as well. People started to think that Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were the same person since there were so many similarities and they seemed so close, but his family denied it and said that they believed Danny Phantom left to go find Danny Fenton and never came back."

"What happened to Danny's family?" Danny asked, somewhat sad and yet fearful at the same time, like he didn't really want to know the answer.

"Well his parents decided to go off and look for him, but they never came back. No one knows what happened to them either." As Kimberly said this, she thought she heard a slightly audible gasp and saw a tear forming in Danny's eyes.

"His sister, Jazz, was heartbroken, but she moved on and got a Ph.D. in psychology and got married to a really nice man named Michael Henderson. She now has twins and lives somewhere in Chicago. She comes out to visit every year for the service."

"She's alive?" Danny asked, sounding somewhat hopeful.

"Yeah," Kimberly answered slowly, intrigued by his hopeful tone. "Anyways, Danny and Sam's best friend, Tucker Foley, also survived the tragedy of the Fenton family and created a new operating program for computers named Foley which quickly replaced Windows."

"Yes!" Tucker yelled in joy. "Sorry, big fan."

"Anyways he's extremely successful and is the Bill Gates of this century. I really don't know where he lives, since he has houses all over the planet, but he comes out here to visit for the memorial service every year as well."

After she finished her story, the three of them looked extremely depressed and Danny looked like he was fighting back tears.

"Um, I need to go to the bathroom. Do you think there's a store open somewhere?" Danny asked as he looked around.

"Yeah, there's one right over there," Kimberly answered as she pointed to a gas station across the street.

"Thanks." He walked off rather quickly, Tucker and Sam following him.

"Well, that was certainly interesting," Noelle commented.

"I'll say," Jacob agreed.

"I've never seen anyone react that way to the story about Danny Fenton unless they knew him personally. I mean, I know it's a sad story, but still, generally people don't care that much," Noelle pointed out.

"And after hearing about Danny's parents he had tears in his eyes," Jacob remarked.

"He looked like he had tears in his eyes the whole time," Kimberly added. "There's definitely something more going on. He knows more about the Fentons than he claims, and I've got this suspicion that he didn't run off to the bathroom just to pee."

"Me neither," Jacob agreed.

"You guys stay here; I'm going to see what's up," Kimberly ordered as she turned invisible and flew off towards the gas station.

It wasn't that she usually spied on people when they wanted to have a private conversation, but she was curious. She had this strange feeling that she should be involved in this too, like whatever they were hiding had something to do with her. It might have something to do with that strange connection she'd always felt to Danny Fenton. Based on the way they reacted to hearing the tale of the heroic philanthropist, it seemed like they knew Danny Fenton and his family personally but knew nothing of their history. But how could three sixteen year olds know someone who was pronounced missing the year they were born?

She checked in the bathroom and noticed that no one was there. Had they given them the slip? Had they gotten the history on Danny Fenton that they seemed to be missing and then decided to run off before they got even more suspicious?

She continued to fly around and finally heard voiced coming from the alley behind the gas station. She flew closer and found Danny sitting on a trash can, his eyes red from crying. Sam and Tucker were on either side comforting him.

"I mean, this isn't what I thought it would be like at all! I mean, isn't this future supposed to be better than my other one? It seems like to me that everyone's dead in both of them, including me!"

"Well, at least Jazz and Tucker are still alive," Sam comforted, still looking somewhat shocked.

"Lucky," Danny commented with a sniffle.

"Hey, I don't think it's any better. With the two of you dead, there's nothing really good about life any more, except the whole Windows thing which is totally awesome."

"But Danny, isn't that why we're here, to fix it? That means that there's still hope."

"But Clockwork was talking about saving me, he didn't say anything about you or my parents or my daughter…wow that's weird to think about." He shook his head. "What if I may still be alive, but you're dead? That still doesn't bode for a very good future."

"Listen Danny, I'm just as shocked to find out about this as you are, but Clockwork sent us to this time for a reason. Trust me, if I was really dead right now, Clockwork would have sent you back further to save me because that's just the way he is."

"Yeah, he's always bending the rules for you Danny," Tucker added with a smile.

"Don't worry Danny, we'll figure this out. Clockwork wouldn't have sent us if we couldn't do anything to help."

"I know. It's just a shock, to hear that not only will you grow up to be one of the richest men on the planet, a hero twice over, and that they commemorate your death every year, but that you might possibly be dead, and I mean really dead. And then, to add icing to the cake, your parents could be dead because they went off to look for you and your sister and best friend are left alone because you couldn't fight some stupid ghost. It's just a lot to take in."

"We understand Danny," Sam soothed.

"But think of it this way, it can't be as bad as the last time you went to the future," Tucker added.

"Yeah, I guess that's true." He took a deep sigh and stood up. "Well, I think we've been in the bathroom long enough. Shall we go?"

"Yeah, but what do we do once we reach our neighborhood? Clockwork hinted that we were supposed to go to your house, at least I'm pretty sure that's what his hint referred to, but I don't think it would be a good thing to tell them that we're going into Danny Fenton's old house."

"So pretty much how are we going to give them the slip?" Danny asked. Tucker and Sam nodded. "Well, I was thinking of just going to some random house, sneaking in, and then once they go away going back to my house."

"That works," Sam agreed.

They started to walk back to the rest of them and Kimberly quickly flew out, not believing what she'd just overheard. She landed next to the others, still trying to regain her bearings and put together the pieces in her head.

"What did you find out?" Noelle asked as the other three walked out towards them.

Kimberly ignored her and stared at Danny and his friends as they walked towards them.

"Hey guys. Sorry it took so…"

"You're Danny Fenton."

* * *

A/N: Wow, this is just my week for evil cliffies. First A Secret Uncovered and now this one... 


	7. Blast from the Past

A/N: Sorry about the late update. I was camping this weekend and when I got back had to focus all my writing energy on A Secret Uncovered out of fear for my life due to the evil cliffie which, remarkably, was far more evil than this one was. But I've finally caught up!

And just asa side note I wanted to say that for those of you that read Tortured Truth the summary for the sequel (Tortured Revenge) is posted in my profile, so please check it out and tell me what you think! But just a warning, it will reveal who the recipient of the package is as well as give a few hints as to what was in the package.

And thank you so much for all your reviews, comments, support, everything!

Oh, and the italics indicate a flashback.

* * *

Chapter Seven  
Blast from the Past

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked, feigning stupidity.

"You're Danny Fenton, she's Sam Manson, and he's Tucker Foley."

"Kimberly, have you completely lost your mind?" Noelle asked.

"Yeah Kim. Danny and Sam are dead and you see Tucker every year and he certainly doesn't look like that."

She ignored her friend's voices of reason. She knew what she heard. Everything Danny had said (or didn't say) when they first met and everything that just happened now made perfect sense. All the secrets, all the awkward moments, all the lying, it all made sense. Danny was obviously Danny Fenton and Danny's friends were Danny Fenton's friends. And somehow they didn't know what happened to themselves. It was almost like they were from the past.

"I overheard the three of you talking in the alley. You were talking about Danny Fenton's life like it was your own, using first person pronouns and such. Everything makes so much more sense! The references to Amity, the lack of knowledge of them, your acceptance towards talk about ghosts, your names, it's all proof!"

"Alright, alright," Danny conceded. "Yes, I'm Danny Fenton, okay?"

"But…but how?" Noelle asked in awe. Kimberly reciprocated the feeling. Here he was, her parents' old friend, the hero of the town, the man of legend, standing right in front of her, except as a teenager.

"We have this friend who can control time. He found us and told us something bad happened in the future and that we needed to go save myself. He sent us back and I ended up in your house while Tucker and Sam ended up outside."

The three of them remained silent, still trying to let all the information sink in. Then Jacob managed to find his voice. "So you do know how you got into the house."

Danny smiled. "Yeah, I do."

"So, does this mean that Danny Fen—you aren't really dead?" Kimberly asked.

"No, but he—I will be soon if I don't do something. Man this is strange."

Before Kimberly could ask anymore questions she gasped, blue mist rising out of her mouth. She heard Danny gasp as well and as she turned around she saw remnants of blue mist near his mouth as well.

"Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me," Danny moaned. Kimberly had a suspicion that he knew something about the strange mist that had erupted from their mouths.

In the distance she noticed a large mechanical looking figure flying through the air. Kimberly knew well enough through stories that the large thing was a ghost. She started feeling worried, not really knowing what to do in these situations. They hadn't had a ghost attack since before she was born and while ghost safety was still taught as a precaution, no one really paid enough attention to it to actually be able to use it if the need came.

She looked over at Noelle and Jacob who were both looking frightened, not really knowing what to expect. She looked over at the other three and noticed that they didn't seem scared at all, more worried. Sam and Tucker kept looking from Kimberly and her friends to the large ghost to Danny and then back to Kimberly while whispering in Danny's ear. Danny meanwhile looked determinately at the mechanical ghost, his eyes fixed on the flying attacker as he stood protectively in front of the three of them. How could he be so brave and unafraid at a time like this?

Then it clicked. This was Danny Fenton. He grew up during the ghost sieges and his parents were ghost hunters. He dealt with this stuff all the time in his original time zone.

Danny nodded his head to something Sam whispered in his ear and Sam looked somewhat worried but gave him a nod back. It looked like Danny had come to a decision of some kind, but Kimberly had no clue what.

"You three, get behind me!" Danny ordered and they quickly obeyed him without objection.

The ghost flew closer and stopped a short distance in front of the group of teens. He stared down at them while floating in the air.

"What? Ho-how can this be?" the ghost asked, his deep voice echoing as fear and worry crept into his voice. "You were killed, fifteen years ago!"

"Yeah, probably after I beat the crap out of you!" Danny challenged back.

"Be that as it may Ghost Child, it still doesn't explain how you got here."

_Ghost Child?_ Kimberly thought. Why would he call him that?

Danny pulled a medallion out from around his neck and showed it to the ghost. "Clockwork sent me here, to fix things. Now the real question is, what are _you_ doing here? From what I hear I stopped the ghost attacks years ago."

_No, Danny Phantom stopped the ghost attacks_ Kimberly thought. Did he misunderstand what she said or did he know more about all this than he was letting on?

"Yes you might have child," another, more nasally voice answered. As she wondered where the voice was coming from, she noticed with a jump that the ghost had two faces, one on its head and the other in its chest. "But, ironic as it may seem, the very same friend who sent you here also released us so that we, Skultech 9.9, can reclaim the world as ours!"

"And now that you're here whelp, we can reclaim you as ours as well," the deeper voiced head of the ghost added.

"See, there's a slight problem with your plan. You can't reclaim me if you never had me in the first place."

"Enough! You're no match for the combined power of Skultech 9.9!"

"That's what you said last time," Danny answered as white rings of light appeared around his waist. Kimberly gasped in shock as the rings moved up and down his body, changing his shirt and jeans to a black and white jumpsuit, his raven black hair to snowy white, his crystal blue eyes to vivid glowing green. He jumped into the air and flew at the ghost called Skultech 9.9, punching him hard in the stomach and sending him flying backwards.

Danny Fenton was the boy in her dreams, the boy that looked just like her, the boy that could do all the same things she could do.

Sam noticed her look of shock and turned towards her. "Look, I know this is probably shocking, but…I can explain." She remained silent for a few moments. "Actually, I can't."

"Hey, are you all right?" Tucker asked, seeing her paper white face.

"No," Kimberly managed to answer as she watched Danny fly around and shoot the same green blasts she could at the ghost.

"Why? I mean it's not like…"

"I can do the same thing!" she yelled.

"What?" Sam and Tucker asked in disbelief.

Kimberly thought of her alternate persona as the same white rings formed around her waist, transforming her into practically a female version of Danny.

"Oh my God," Sam replied.

"I didn't think it was possible," Tucker added in awe.

"Danny! I think we have a problem!" Sam yelled at him.

"What?" he asked as he just finished throwing a green blast at the ghost. He looked down at Kimberly. "Oh my God." Then a large blast from the ghost hit him from the side and threw him into the wall, leaving a large crevice in the brick. He fell down and hit hard onto the pavement. As he struggled to get up from the blow Skultech 9.9 flew towards him, his gun aiming at him.

"At last Ghost Child, you are mine," he threatened, the gun glowing as it charged to life, casting a blue glow on Danny's crouching figure.

"Skulker, when are you ever going to learn that I'm way too smart and resourceful to be defeated by you this easily," Danny smarted as he smiled. Two white rings traveled up and down from his waist, but instead of turning him into his normal appearance he simply disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" the other face asked.

"I don't know. He was just here. Darn that ghost child, he's learned teleportation!"

"That's right!" Danny proclaimed triumphantly from behind them. Skultech turned around only to face a bright blue light emerging from a familiar-looking thermos. The ghost screamed as it was sucked into the thermos. Danny capped it shut and smiled proudly. He landed to the floor by Tucker and Sam.

"Ha, even with all the new updates he's still easy to fight."

"Isn't that the thermos that Danny Phantom used to use to catch the ghosts in?" Noelle asked. Kimberly thought she'd seen that thermos before; there was one just like it on display in the ghost museum.

"Well, yeah, it is," Danny answered awkwardly.

"Then why do you have it?" Jacob asked.

"It just worked so well that I decided to use it? Plus it is a _Fenton_ Thermos and I am a Fenton."

"Danny, just tell them," Sam suggested with a sigh.

Danny sighed. "Well see, I'm also Danny Phantom."

"What?" the three of them exclaimed aloud.

"Yeah. Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom are one and the same. The theories people had were obviously right, but my family, bless them, still kept it a secret, even after I was…gone," he finished awkwardly.

"But how?" Noelle asked, clearly puzzled.

"Well, I kinda got in a lab accident when I was fourteen and the accident turned me into a half human, half ghost hybrid. Then when the ghost attacks started, I decided to create Danny Phantom to save the world from ghosts while still being able to live my life as Danny Fenton. Obviously I was pretty successful at it if it still worked after all these years."

"Wow. That just, wow," Jacob remarked.

Danny started to blush and then he turned to Kimberly. "But, how are you a half ghost?"

"Ha-half ghost? Is that what I am?" Kimberly asked in awe and disbelief.

"Well I assume so. You can fly, turn invisible, shoot ecto-blasts, walk through stuff, stuff like that?" Kimberly nodded her head slowly. "Then you're a half ghost, like me."

"But, how?" Sam asked, still staring curiously at Kimberly.

"What do you mean how?"

"How are you a half ghost?" Danny asked.

"I don't know. I was born this way."

"There's no way," Sam replied shortly.

"What? I don't understand." How could they tell her she wasn't born this way? She'd been exhibiting these abilities for as long as she could remember. They couldn't just tell her that it was impossible.

"People aren't just born half dead," Danny explained. "The only way you can become a half ghost is to have a deadly experience around something that emits a lot of ghostly energy, like a Ghost Portal. It's not that common and in our time there are only two of us, and both of us had an accident with a Ghost Portal."

"But, nothing like that ever happened to me, and Sylvia told me that I've been turning invisible and intangible since I was in my cradle."

Danny looked puzzled. "No, that can't be right, at least, I don't think it can…" He drifted off into thought, staring at the floor.

"Maybe there was some kind of accident when you were really young, or something like that," Tucker suggested.

"Maybe…" Danny answered, but Kimberly could tell that he was thinking of something else, something that he didn't really feel like sharing.

"Well, however she became a half ghost doesn't really matter," Sam stated. "What really matters right now is why Clockwork released Skultech when he was the one who sent here us in the first place."

"Because he wanted us to find out about each other," Danny answered.

"What?" Kimberly asked.

"Isn't it obvious? When he sent us back, he made me land in your house so you'd find me and we'd meet each other. Then he sent Skultech to attack us on our way to my house because he knew that I'd risk my identity to protect you, thus exposing me and eventually exposing you. He wanted us to meet each other, to find out about each other."

"But why?" Noelle asked.

"Because we're here to find the ghost that kidnapped my future self, and he figures we probably need all the help we can get. Two halfas are better than one when fighting a powerful ghost."

"But I don't want to fight!" Kimberly yelled. "I don't even know what's going on!"

"Neither do we," Tucker admitted. "We're completely lost."

"Clockwork didn't give us that much information," Sam added. "He said we had to find it out for ourselves."

"Well, maybe we're supposed to help you get the information, not necessarily fight your ghost. Plus, if you are Danny Phantom, you've fought lots of evil ghosts before," Jacob pointed out.

"I know, but that doesn't mean that I won't take help if it's offered. Plus, the fact that my future self got captured when he probably has a wider range of powers than me isn't too comforting. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not asking you to help fight, I'm just trying to figure out Clockwork's logic. I am, however, asking if you'd help us gather information or at least give us some more information on what happened in the space of time that we skipped."

"What?" the three friends asked.

"Listen, I have to be honest with you, I really don't know much about what's going on. I have a brief description of what happened from you guys and a few cryptic hints from Clockwork. I really could use some help navigating through this place, finding people that might give me information, if you're willing that is."

"What's in it for us?" Jacob asked.

"How could you ask such a thing!" Noelle asked him angrily. "This is Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom! Everything is possible because of him! You owe him!"

"No, no, that's so not necessary," Danny started to petition.

"Yes it is," Noelle replied. "You've done so much for the town and helped us out so much that it's the least we can do."

"Well, technically I haven't done any of that yet, so you technically don't owe me anything."

"No, Noelle's right. We were meant to find each other, which means that we were meant to help you," Kimberly added.

"Yeah. But first, I want to know what's going on," Jacob stated. "All you've said so far is that you're missing and a ghost's responsible. If you really want our help, we're going to need all the information and know what we're getting involved in. What did this Clockwork guy tell you? What happened before you fell down Kimberly's stairs?"

"Well, we were fighting Skulker, the upper part of Skultech, and I had just sucked him up in the thermos. Then time stopped and Clockwork appeared…"

"_Clockwork, what're you doing here?" Danny asked with a slight smile. He was glad to see his old friend again, but also a little worried because Clockwork only came when there was great trouble._

"_Unfortunately I come to inform you that the future is in peril, your future."_

"_What? Not again. I don't understand; I've been really good!" Danny exclaimed in frustration._

"_Yes, I know you have. In fact, you've done such a wonderful job of abolishing that future that now a new one lies in its place, a new future that, unfortunately, is in danger, and not by your making. On the contrary, it is you that is in trouble."_

"_Me?" Danny asked._

"_Yes. Will you and your friends please join me in my lair? I shall explain everything."_

_Danny looked at Tucker and Sam and they both nodded their heads. _

"_Excellent," Clockwork added and touched his staff, transporting them all to his lair._

"_So, what's going on? How am I in danger? What kind of future is this anyway?"_

"_You're future looks quite pleasant. You are a thriving businessman with a magnificent family and a generally wonderful life. Then, one night, you and your family disappear, never to be seen again. You were captured, by a powerful ghost, and now, fifteen years later, the life of your future self is in danger. He has been able to survive for years, but now his life is waning. He doesn't have much time left. It is up to you, Daniel Fenton, and your friends, to rescue him."_

"_But, how? And who kidnapped him…me? And why are we going back fifteen years later? Why not the night he…I disappeared?"_

"_I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you. I think I have already revealed too much. I can tell you that you will find all the information you need once you get there. There is an extremely important reason why I am sending you back to this exact time, and you will find out eventually as you receive more information. Remember, you are not only trying to save yourself, but the future world as well."_

"_But how are we going to get this information?"_

"_You do not seem to understand. I cannot tell you. I too am bound by rules, and this is one of them. But I can tell you this: the best hiding place is in plain sight. People hold onto the most normal and common objects, and when looking for information about clocks, the written word can never be wrong, especially when written by a clock. That is all the help I can give you." _

"_But, that doesn't make any sense," Tucker complained, earning a smile from Clockwork._

"_Now, are you ready to go?" Clockwork asked._

"_You're talking to all of us right?" Sam asked as she stepped up next to Danny. "Because we're not staying behind."_

"_Yeah, we're going to help too," Tucker added, stepping up on the other side of Danny._

"_I assumed you would, which is why I shall not try and stop you."_

"_But, what about the present?" Danny asked._

"_It shall remain frozen until you return. I would say you may take as much time in the future as you wish and that there will be no consequences in the present, but you are under a slight time constraint. It is not major, but I do suggest you hurry and don't get distracted, even though it shall be extremely easy to do so. You'll be curious about your future lives and that is only natural, but try to curb that curiosity and continue to move on. You'll live that future soon enough, and then you may find out everything that happens. Now, ready?"_

_Danny nodded as a nighttime image of a large and elaborate mansion appeared on the clock face. Victorian gates surrounded the mansion and floral courtyard. Danny and his friends gathered in front of the picture, ready to enter the future._

"_One last bit of advice before you begin your rescue mission. I suggest starting from the beginning, since the beginning is generally considered a good place to start."_

_Danny nodded his head in acknowledgement, though not quite in understanding._

"_Good luck," Clockwork wished as Danny and his friends jumped into the future. All was dark as Danny felt the air rush past him as he fell. He hit something solid and moaned in pain. He stood up gently and tried looking around him, but saw nothing but black. He took a few steps forward and felt the floor fall from beneath him as he tumbled down a flight of stairs. He stood up again, rubbing his head and took another few steps forward, only to fall down another flight of stairs. As he rolled and bumped his head along the stairs he tried to stop himself, but it only caused him to roll funny and fall hard at the bottom, hitting his head on the stairs, and he fell into the realm of unconsciousness._

"And that's basically everything we know," Danny finished.

The three of them just stared at him, their faces filled with awe and disbelief. Kimberly couldn't believe half of what she heard, and yet she knew that it was all true. It all seemed so fantastical, and yet it all made sense. She still hadn't gotten over the fact that not only was this boy that she'd found unconscious in her house Danny Fenton, but he was also Danny Phantom and had traveled from the past to rescue himself from some ghost. And not only that, but they wanted their assistance. The two greatest heroes Amity had ever seen were asking for their help.

"Um, guys?" Danny asked awkwardly. Kimberly and her friends shook out of their thoughts and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, it's just…" Kimberly began.

"A lot," Noelle finished.

Danny smiled. "Yeah, I guess it would be. This is a lot for me even, and I deal with this kind of stuff on a daily basis."

"Um, hello, somewhat on a time crunch here," Sam reminded them. "Shouldn't dawdle."

"Right. So start at the beginning? What do you think that means?" Jacob asked.

"We think it means Danny's house, or more specifically the basement, since that's where Danny got his ghost powers, and thus it was the beginning of all the ghost hunting," Sam explained.

"Makes sense to me," Kimberly remarked.

"Well, then let's head there," Jacob remarked as he started walking.

"Listen, you guys really don't have to do this, you know that right?" Danny asked. "I don't know what's going to happen or where this is going to take me. Helping me out might put you in danger. Of course I'll protect you as much as I can, but I can only do so much."

The three friends looked at each other and smiled. "We understand," Kimberly stated. "Now let's head to your house."

* * *

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed it! Now at least you know why Danny and friends are here. Now we can really get this mystery rolling! Be forewarned, next chapter begins the flood of information, and trust me, there's a lot! 


	8. Back to the Beginning

A/N: Sorry about the late update. I had every intention of getting it up last night (which I know isn't that much earlier, but still...) but I kinda fell asleep while doing my final edit of the chatper before posting it. Now, don't start thinking that it's boring or anything, it was just a combination of me having a horrible day and being sick, so I totally crashed.

Anywho, starting this chapter there's going to be lots of information regarding Danny's disappearance and the events surrounding it being thrown at you. I just wanted to let you know that if you ever have any questions or are confused on something to please ask me and I'll try to explain it as best I can without giving too much away.

I also want to thank everyone for their amazingly awesome comments and support of this story! Again, I just want to let you guys know that your reviews and comments just brighten my day (and they did yesterday too) so thank you so so much!

Chapter Eight  
Back to the Beginning

They started heading down to Danny's house while Tucker and Sam pointed out different sites, remarking on how they'd changed or in some cases remained the same while Kimberly, Noelle, and Jacob commented on places they walked past or asked the others questions about what certain things were like in their time.

Danny, however, remained silent behind them. Kimberly didn't blame him, since she figured he had a lot on his mind and it looked like her friends had gotten the hint that they shouldn't bother him with their hero worship. He looked like he was deep in thought and was probably contemplating what they were supposed to do while at his house. She fell back and started walking next to him.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked.

"What?" Danny asked, finally acknowledging her presence. "Oh, yeah, I guess." Kimberly glared at him. "Well, considering the situation, yeah, I'm fine. It's just, everything, it's so much to grasp. I mean, how would you feel if you all of a sudden found out that when you grew up you would be respected the world over not just once, but twice? Right now I'm not even respected in school! My teachers never give me a break and I get shoved into a locker everyday, and yet, all this is going to happen later. And not only that, but I'm married to my best friend, my parents are dead, I have a child somewhere, and my sister is married with kids! And on top of all that I'm also missing and quite possibly dead if we don't figure this out soon enough." He sighed. "It's just a lot to digest."

"Yeah, I guess it would be." This whole situation felt so surreal. She was walking next to Danny Fenton, listening to him talk about his life's story that she and the rest of the population had grown up hearing about. She felt awestruck as she walked beside him, the boy who would grow up to continuously save the town, and on some occasions the world, but she also was starting to see that he was just like anybody else. He smiled, joked, got worried, felt nervous and embarrassed, and generally was just a normal teenage boy.

"But what about you? How are you dealing? I know that it's really hard to find out that you're in reality half dead. Heck, it took me the better part of a year to finally come to terms with it, so are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm actually surprisingly fine. I had always had these, suspicions, about being a ghost, but my friends kept convincing me that I wasn't. I mean, I had always found all these similarities between the ghosts we'd learn about and myself, especially with, well, you. But they kept pointing out that I had a heartbeat and that I was very much alive, so I just pushed the possibility out of my mind. I guess that while I may not have put the pieces together, something inside me did. So it's like I always knew. If that makes any sense."

"No, not really. But then again, I'm a C student, so that doesn't surprise me."

Kimberly smiled. Sure she already knew that he wasn't a good student, but she felt amused hearing him say it.

"But I bet you already knew that right?" Danny asked.

"Yeah. Everyone knows almost everything about you, except for you also being Danny Phantom. Instead of hearing fantastical bedtime stories about princesses and dragons, children in this town are put to bed with stories about what either you or…you did for the town."

"Wow. That's just…weird." Then Danny's face lit up, realizing the horde of information he could receive from Kimberly. "Hey, do my grades get any better?"

Kimberly laughed. "Unfortunately no. You were…are?... oh whatever, a straight C student through high school, with the exception of Lancer's classes."

"Lancer? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. All of a sudden you just started doing really well in his classes and the two of you got really close. He still gets really depressed when he thinks about you, and it's been fifteen years."

"You know him?"

"Yeah, he's my teacher. He still teaches at the school, but only English now."

"Wow. We always knew he'd teach forever. Does he still yell out book titles?"

Kimberly giggled. "Yeah. He did that then too?"

"Oh yeah. 'Gullivers Travels Mr. Fenton! What's going on here?'" he mimicked, sending both of them into a fit of giggles. "Does he still favor the popular kids?"

"Nope. Just a while after you graduated he made a promise that he'd treat everyone equally, so that no one would get picked on unfairly again. Needless to say, I think it was inspired by you. Now, especially after you've gone missing, Lancer will do everything short of kill someone who so much as looks like he wants to shove another student in a locker."

"What? Oh that is so not fair! Why didn't he put that into effect _while_ I was still in school instead of after I left? It would have saved a lot of time, and backaches."

"But, couldn't you just phase through the door?"

"Well yeah, when no one was around, but that still didn't prevent the pain that came from actually being shoved in it."

"Sorry, didn't think about that."

"Don't worry about it. Just a daily event in the life of Danny Fenton."

They rounded the corner and Tucker, Sam, and Danny stopped dead as they looked down their street. They started walking, amazed at how deserted the place seemed.

"What happened here?" Danny asked as they looked down at the familiar houses of their street that looked vacant for years.

"People just couldn't stand living so close to your house, too many memories…and tourists. Once you and your family went missing a few people moved because they couldn't get over it while near your house, especially since your parents still seemed to have hope that you were going to come back. Obviously it's because they knew you were Danny Phantom and that you would fight back."

"Well, good theory, except that my parents don't know that I'm part ghost."

"Really?" Noelle asked. "You never told them?"

"No. They're ghost hunters, and I'm Public Ghost Enemy Number One: not a good combination."

"I guess you're right," Kimberly stated. She had never put that connection together. All the time the Fentons were hunting the Ghost Boy they were really hunting their own son. It must've been hard on him, knowing that his own parents were hunting him.

"So, _some_ people moved?" Sam asked. "It looks like _a lot_ of people moved."

"Well, after you were pronounced dead and your parents went missing almost everyone packed up and left, including my parents. They say it's because they wanted to move on, but they couldn't when there were constant reminders all around them. So they moved to England."

Tucker stopped, gazing at the house in front of him. "That's my house…" Tucker stated in awe. In front of the lawn there was a plaque and a sign, the plaque commemorating that Tucker Foley lived in this house, and the sign warning of the highly powerful electrical shield that surrounded the house.

"Yeah, you moved almost immediately after Sam and Danny were officially pronounced dead, but your parents still lived here. However, after you invented Foley you bought them a house somewhere else," Kimberly explained.

"I'm really starting to get weirded out how everyone knows so much about us," Sam stated as she dragged Tucker away from his house and continued moving. "I mean, it's not like there's any real reason to know any of this information."

"Well, why do you think people know everything about movie stars?" Noelle asked.

"Good point," Sam conceded.

They finally reached Sam's house and noticed a plaque and a sign in front of her house too.

"What happened to my parents?" Sam asked in a slightly teary voice, like she was afraid to ask.

"No one really knows. Like my parents they couldn't handle it here any more and moved to…"

"France," Sam finished with a slight smile, though she had a tear in her eye. "That's good. They've always wanted to move to France." She continued walking and Danny ran to catch up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, imparting soothing words to her while the remaining four smiled from behind.

"So they really end up together?" Tucker asked.

"Yup," Noelle answered.

"When?"

"Your junior year."

"Thank God, it's about time."

They turned the corner and all of them stopped when they finally reached Danny's house. In the front yard rested a huge plaque graced by two smaller ones, all in memoriam of the three Fentons that had mysteriously vanished. Danny stared at the house. It looked so strange, so lifeless. The FentonWorks sign no longer emitted its neon glow and no light shined through the windows like it always did in his time period. He started drifting towards the house, amazed and yet frightened of what he saw.

"Danny, don't go near the house!" Kimberly warned.

Danny snapped out of his magnetic trance and turned to look at her. "Why not? It's my house, and it's what we're here for."

"Yes, but there's an electric shield surrounding the house," Kimberly informed him. "They put it up so people would stay out; they didn't want them desecrating the house."

Danny took a stick and threw it towards the door. It stopped at the entrance to the walkway as the area around it glowed a mixture of purple and blue before the stick fell to the ground, smoking. "You've got to be kidding me. This is unbelievably insane."

"At least it's not a museum," Sam stated. The three stared at the floor. "Wait, it wasn't a museum, was it?"

"Well, they originally wanted it to be, and they actually tried, but Jazz flew down here and threatened to release all the ghosts in the Ghost Zone if they did anything of the sort," Noelle explained. "Needless to say that made them reconsider it and they just took a lot of stuff from the house and put it in the Ghost Museum. They wanted to take the Ghost Portal, but they couldn't move it."

"Ghost Museum…" Danny stated slowly.

"Maybe we got the wrong beginning. Maybe Clockwork meant like the hospital you were born in, or something like that," Tucker suggested.

"No, this has got to be the beginning. This house was the beginning of so many things; this has to be it. We just need to find some way to get inside. A stupid electric shield isn't going to stop me." Danny went ghost and turned intangible, sinking through the ground. A few seconds later he reappeared above the ground, but still on their side. "A Ghost Shield, however, will stop me."

"Argh, why would there be a Ghost Shield around your house?" Sam asked in exasperation.

"I don't know. Either my parents set it up or some stupid person put it up when they put up the electrical shield. Either way, I can't really think of a way to get in."

"Did I make this?" Tucker asked, gesturing towards the electric shield. The three of them nodded their heads. "Good," Tucker remarked as he pulled out his PDA and rolled up his sleeves with a smile "then I should know exactly how to crack it." He walked over to the security box and hooked up his PDA, trying to hack into the system.

"I knew we hung out with him for a reason," Danny remarked with a smile.

After a few minutes of patient waiting, they heard Tucker swear loudly at the security box.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"The PDA's too old and has a different operating system so it can't interact with this new technology."

"In English?" Sam asked.

"My PDA's too old and I can't hack in."

Danny kicked the ground in frustration.

"Wait, I'm not done. I can't hack in, but I can reach a password screen."

"So, what good does that do?"

"Well if I set this thing up, then I would have set up the password, which means that I can possibly crack it."

"Good, then get to it."

"Right." Tucker directed his focus towards the screen while Danny started pacing. "Danny, continue doing that and you'll distract me," Tucker warned.

"Sorry." He turned invisible and continued pacing, earning a smile from the three friends and Sam and a sigh from Tucker.

"That's not what I had in mind."

"I know, but it makes both of us happy. You can keep working without distraction, and I can continue to pace," Danny's disembodied voice responded.

Finally, Tucker lowered his arms and a slight beep was heard from the security box. A dome of blue and purple veined light flashed quickly before disappearing, indicating that the shield had been shut down.

"I don't know if I should be amazed or scared," Tucker stated as he looked at his handy-work.

"What?" Danny asked, reappearing.

"Well, the password into this system is the same password I have right now."

"Really? What is it?"

"TF, too fine."

"That's dumb Tucker. Anyone who knows you would be able to guess that one eventually."

"Not if it's in Esperanto."

Danny and Sam groaned. "Well, at least it worked," Danny responded as he started walking up to the house.

Then Sam remembered. "Danny, wait!" But her warning came too late and Danny had come in contact with the Ghost Shield. It glowed green around him and shocked him before throwing him backwards into the middle of the street. He stood up and glared evilly at the house, which was putting up an extremely strong defense.

"Can I even begin to explain how much I _hate_ these things?" he asked angrily. "Alright, Tucker, Sam, you know where the hidden key is, if it's still there. Head up to the Ops Center and turn off the Ghost Shield."

They nodded their heads in understanding and ran off towards the house, passing through the invisible Ghost Shield with no complications.

"So, you…we can't pass through a Ghost Shield?" Kimberly asked.

"Nope. Even if we're not in ghost mode, it still prevents entry, though it hurts more in ghost mode. The stupid shields can still detect the ectoplasm in our blood, so it stops us. I can't tell you how many times I got locked out of my house because one of these stupid monstrosities was up."

Suddenly a dome of green light flashed briefly, indicating that Tucker and Sam had accomplished their task.

"Thank God," Danny stated as he walked up towards his house and entered through the door into the living room in trepidation.

Kimberly and her friends stopped behind Danny as he stood in the doorway, staring at the living room. She couldn't believe it, they were actually inside Danny Fenton's house. Everyone always dreamed of entering this house, to see the atmosphere that produced the heroic philanthropist, but no one was ever allowed in. Yet, here they were, inside his house, and with Danny Fenton himself of all people.

"Danny?" Kimberly asked as she noticed that he continued to block the doorway.

"It looks exactly the same as it does now. Granted the TV looks a lot more up to date and there are more pictures and there's a layer of dust an inch thick covering everything, but everything else is exactly the same." He walked deeper into the living room and lifted up a cushion on the couch, revealing a small black char mark. "I mean look, this is still the exact same couch! I just made this mark earlier today! Well, at least my today. What year is this?"

"Twenty thirty," Jacob answered.

"Thirty?" Danny asked in amazement. "Wow. That means that this couch has been here for twenty five years at least!"

He continued to wander around downstairs, picking up old photographs and smiling. "Hey look, I actually graduate!" Danny said happily as he pointed to a picture of him in his graduation gown, surrounded by his parents and sister. "Uh, guys?" he asked as he finally looked at them and saw the looks of awe on their faces. He clapped his hands and they snapped out of their trance. "Listen, I know that I'm supposedly going to be some big hero and protect the town and all this stuff, but all this gawking is getting somewhat ridiculous. I know that you're probably really excited to be in my house and that you'll probably want to steal something as a souvenir, and I'd probably do the same thing if I ever entered the house of anyone who starred in Lord of the Rings, but, for my sake, can you try to keep it to a minimum? I haven't done any of it yet, so there's no reason for any of this, okay?"

The three of them nodded their heads and looked slightly ashamed, but Danny just smiled at them.

He turned around and wandered upstairs and entered his bedroom, the other's following eagerly. Tucker and Sam were already in his room, looking at all of his stuff. Kimberly and her friends tried to keep their excitement at a minimum, but they couldn't help feel extremely excited. They were in Danny Fenton's bedroom.

"Can you believe this? Everything's the same!" Tucker remarked as he searched through the files on Danny's computer. "Even you're password's the same, which goes to show that you're about as lame as I am!"

"Tucker, this isn't the time to play on the computer," Sam scolded. "I know you want to check out the operating system you made, but Clockwork warned us about this."

"What, I'm looking to see if there's any information on the computer," he defended.

"Right…"

Danny meanwhile had moved over to his closet. He started rummaging through it, throwing out old moth eaten clothes. "God, did my parents ever throw away anything!" he asked. "I mean, these are my freshman gym shorts!"

"I think the real question is did _you_ ever throw anything away?" Sam asked with a smile.

"Hey, I've got more important things to do. I mean, if I moved out, why wasn't my room turned into a ghost study or something? They've always wanted one."

"I don't know, but Jazz's room is still like she left it too."

"Parents," Danny muttered as he turned his arm intangible and stuck it into the wall of the closet. "Aha! It's all still here!" he remarked as he pulled out a stack of papers and two Petri dishes, one holding dried green liquid, the other red. "I hoped these would be here."

"What's that?" Kimberly asked.

"This was where I hid a bunch of information about me and other ghosts. Only a ghost would be able to get at it, so we figured it was a good hiding spot for incriminating evidence. I figure that if there's some information that needs to be found at the house, it's going to be here." He handed everyone a stack of papers. "Take a seat somewhere and tell me if you find anything interesting."

So for the next fifteen minutes the six of them searched through all of Danny's information, but didn't find anything of interest. They were mostly status reports on Danny's progression or ghost profiles that he had printed out from his computer files.

"Maybe we're looking at the wrong stuff," Sam suggested as they leafed through the last of the papers. "I mean, maybe it's something your parents made or had that we're supposed to be looking for. Any new information you had you probably hid somewhere at your…our house."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Well then, let's head down to the lab," Tucker offered. "If it's not here, then it's got to be down there."

"Alright, sounds good." They walked downstairs, but not before Danny took the opportunity to quickly "search" his parents' and sister's rooms. They headed through the kitchen and into the basement. This room, however, looked very different and showed that time had actually passed. More inventions and contraptions covered the room, and the walls were covered in blue prints and notes on new inventions.

"Please don't touch anything, especially you Kimberly," Danny warned. "This lab is not friendly to strangers or ghosts."

They walked slowly into the lab, standing mostly in the center, observing the things around them while Danny, Tucker, and Sam started rummaging through the clutter of the lab.

Danny headed towards the door to the Ghost Zone and opened it as glowing green light filled the room. Kimberly, Noelle, and Jacob stared at it, mesmerized by the beauty of the swirling green gaseous liquid.

"Why did you do that?" Sam asked. "What if a ghost comes out?"

"Well I've got to put Skultech back in," he responded in a matter of fact tone. "And plus, what if we were supposed to find the information inside the Ghost Zone?"

"I don't think so Danny. Now just put Skultech back in and close it before another ghost decides to make an appearance."

Danny obeyed Sam's wishes and shut the Ghost Portal.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Jacob asked.

"I don't know. Clockwork said we were looking for information about what happened. Although he never really said where to look for it."

"Sure he did. He said something about reading a book written by a clock if you want to know about clocks," Sam responded.

"Alright, he didn't say anything that made sense," Danny corrected.

"Now there I agree with you."

"Alright, we just need to sit and figure this out," Jacob suggested, always being the logical thinker. "I don't think it's doing us any good to continue searching if we don't know what we're searching for. So, let's list what we know."

"Well we know that Sam, me, and our now sixteen year old child are missing and quite possibly dead and we know that it was a ghost that kidnapped us," Danny supplied as he paced around the room.

"So we know one piece of information we need is the name of the ghost that attacked you and the location of where he's hiding," Jacob remarked as Noelle took notes. "Continue."

"We know that there's a specific reason for why we were sent forward to this time and not the night of the disappearance," Tucker added.

"Which could either mean that you needed to find us for some reason or we have yet to find the reason."

"I don't know if this Clockwork specifically hinted to this, but I think it might be important to find out why the ghost wanted to kidnap Danny in the first place," Kimberly pointed out.

"Because I'm generally considered a pain in a ghosts' butt," Danny remarked,

"But why keep you for fifteen years? Why not kill you and be done with you?"

"Well, we're still not sure whether or not Danny can be killed, since he's half ghost, but he's still part human," Sam informed her. "He probably wanted Danny out of his way."

"Okay, but then why wait fifteen years to execute your plan to take over the world. It just doesn't make sense. Something tells me that there's a more important reason for why Danny was taken in the first place."

"Then we'll add it to the list," Noelle stated.

"We also know that all the information we'll need is located somewhere in this time frame," Danny continued.

"And we can assume that the information is hidden, but hidden in plain sight," Sam added as she closed her eyes in concentration, trying to remember what Clockwork had told them.

"Oh, and something about people holding onto common objects!" Tucker yelled happily as he remembered more.

"So the information is located in or on something common and in plain sight," Jacob summarized as Noelle took notes.

"And then the cryptic message about finding something written by a clock when you want information on a clock."

"Who'd want information on a clock?" Tucker asked.

"It's a metaphor Tucker," Sam remarked exasperatedly, rubbing her temples. "It's Clockwork's way of saying that, in your terms, if you want information about a computer, find something written by a computer."

"That still doesn't make sense."

"I know, but all I know is that he's trying to say that if you want to know about a ghost invention, find something written by a ghost invention, or if you…"

"If you want to know what happened to Danny, find something written by Danny," Danny stated as he ran over to a table.

"Come again," Kimberly requested.

"If you want information, go to the source, that's what he's trying to say," Danny explained as he ruffled through some papers, throwing photographs on the floor. "Aha!" he shouted as he turned happily around, holding a piece of paper.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"This is a letter, written by me, and dated a year before I went missing. Written by the source, in plain sight, a common object, this has to be it. Plus, who writes letters anymore?" He brought it over to them and they all stared expectantly at it.

"Well read it!" Tucker urged.

_January 29, 2014_

_Mom and Dad, _

_How are you? Hope you're not too lonely, just joking. You know that I just live right down the street. Sorry that I haven't seen you in a while, but things have been really busy, namely business, and Sam's getting a little testy and very demanding, but I guess most pregnant women are, right? _

_I hope you're enjoying this. I remembered that you were complaining a few weeks ago about how no one sends letters anymore, so I decided that this would be a welcome surprise._

_Although to tell you the truth, I've always found letters kinda strange. I mean, if I want to tell you something, I can just come over or call you, so I'm trying to think of something fun and interesting to say that would be worthy of going through the pains of writing a letter, but nothing seems to come to mind. So, we'll stick to the ordinary._

_I ran into Lancer at the bookstore the other day when I was picking up a book for Sam and we started talking. After like two hours of catching up that was only stopped by the store closing, we decided that we should all get together and catch up on old times, and he wanted to invite you as well. I told him that we'd be delighted and that I'd extend the invitation to you, so I'm extending it. If you're interested, we're meeting Thursday night at seven at (where else?) PF Changs. Hope to see you there!_

_So, I received a call from Jazz the other day and she started complaining about some gift that you sent her. It seems that she wasn't too happy about receiving your new and improved versions of lemon juice, olive oil, and soy sauce. She seems to believe that the infusion of ectoplasm wouldn't be healthy to eat, and frankly I agree with her. What was the purpose? I really don't understand it. Was it just to see that you could do it in the first place? It doesn't really make sense, but she wanted me to tell you that she never plans on using it unless she finds a purpose for it, which I can say I'm at a loss to find. But, feel free to educate us._

_Well, here's wishing you the best and I hope to see you on Thursday, or possibly sooner depending on how much work I still have to do. Love you lots!_

_Danny_

Danny finished reading, throwing the letter onto a nearby table.

"Okay, what's so special about this?" Tucker asked.

"I don't know. It just sounds like a regular letter," Danny agreed.

"Maybe that's the point," Kimberly suggested. "Maybe you hid the clues inside the note, making it sound general to throw people off."

"That does make sense, and it does sound like something you'd do," Sam remarked. "You always did like murder mysteries and stuff like that. It wouldn't be too far of a stretch to assume that you'd apply these kind of twists to your own mystery."

"Alright, so we need to analyze the letter closer," Jacob recommended as he picked up the letter and looked closely at it. "It looks like you talk about business, Sam's pregnancy, letters in general, books, meeting Lancer for dinner, and some ectoplasm stuff. Honestly, I can't really see any hidden meanings in anything."

"There's got to be one. It makes a lot of sense and would be a good way to leave behind information. Danny probably wrote this in a hope that his parents would get the information and then figure out what was going on."

"But then that's assuming that I knew I'd be getting kidnapped," Danny stated.

"True, but since we really have nothing else to go on, I say our best option is just to assume it. I mean, it does fit Clockwork's hints," Kimberly advised.

"And why else would you write a letter?" Noelle asked.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about that. To my knowledge my parents have never complained about the lack of letters. They really like e-mail, which I assume is old here, right?"

"We use VM, video messaging," Noelle explained.

"So do you think that you just made that up to throw someone who might have intercepted it off? Give them a logical explanation why you're sending a letter and throw off their suspicions?" Sam suggested.

"Possibly. Sounds like something I'd do. So then, let's look at this letter."

The six of them moved upstairs and sat around the kitchen table, the letter in the center.

"Alright, there are six paragraphs and six of us. I think each of us should take a paragraph and examine it closely, finding anything that might be important," Danny suggested.

They each started examining their respective paragraphs, looking for things out of place, hidden meanings, and possible clues.

"Alright, what did you guys find?" Danny asked after he couldn't get any more out of his paragraph and knew the others were feeling the same way.

"Well, there's not much in the first paragraph save a greeting," Jacob began. "You mention being busy, but given the nature of your business, that's not unexpected so it's probably not a hint. Sam's pregnancy might be some kind of reference to Victoria, but other than that, nothing really."

"Please stop saying that, it sounds really weird," Sam requested while Tucker smiled in amusement.

"Nothing really in the second one either," Noelle reported. "Just explaining why you sent a letter and not a VM."

Danny turned his attention towards Sam. "Well, I thought it was interesting that you said that you wanted to find something important to write in the letter but couldn't. Really, I think that was a hint that you did in reality but hid it beneath the common exterior of casual conversation."

"So then we're to assume that I knew about this beforehand?"

"I think so. I think this paragraph is proof enough."

"Well, the only thing I can figure out is that there might be something special about the bookstore. The PF Changs reference isn't that unexpected because I'd go there any chance I get."

"You own the one in Amity," Kimberly stated.

"What?"

"You bought it because you went there so often. Now it's like a little shrine to you."

"Mental note, don't go into PF Changs while on this mission. But anyways, back to business. So I'm thinking that there's something interesting in the name or location of the bookstore or the time that the restaurant meeting was held at, or something."

"Alright, I thought this whole paragraph was a big clue. I mean, it doesn't sound very natural to be talking about stuff injected with ectoplasm," Kimberly stated.

"You don't know my parents. That's actually pretty natural. But even so, I agree with you. That jumped out at me when I first read it. While my parents may make all that stuff on a regular basis, they'd never send it to Jazz."

"So are you thinking that this stuff's important for a reason and that it was sent to Jazz to keep out of harm's way?" Sam asked.

Danny shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the pantry, which amazingly still had food in it. "This is really gross. You'd think that when they wanted to convert this place into a museum they'd at least clean all the food out." He started rummaging through the pantry while everyone stared at him.

"What are you doing?" Kimberly finally asked.

"Looking for something. Keep talking, I'm listening."

"Well, in the letter, you mentioned how neither you nor Jazz knew the purpose for the ectoplasm infused ingredients but that you were curious to find out, which I think means that while they do seem useless, they're probably important and that there really is a valuable use for them. What that is, I don't know."

"And the last paragraph is completely pointless," Tucker finished. "It's just you saying goodbye."

"Alright, it's not here."

"What isn't?"

"The ectoplasm infused stuff. My parents don't have any. They wouldn't make some and not keep some for themselves. There's a reason Jazz has them, and I think I wanted whoever's reading the letters to know."

"But what use could they possibly be?" Sam asked. "I mean, that ectoplasmic toast that your parents made that one time had no important uses, unless you wanted to be eaten."

"Yeah, but they do get it right sometimes. The portal, ghost shields, the thermos, the weapons…"

"I'm sorry. I don't want to break up the searching, but it's like six something in the morning and some of us are only running off a few hours of sleep," Jacob reminded them with a yawn.

"Oh right, sorry. Let's do one last sweep of the house and then we'll call it quits."

They nodded their heads and each took a room, searching everywhere for something Danny might have written. As Danny searched the basement, he started looking over all the post-it notes his parents had stuck to the wall above their desk. He smiled as he looked at them, reminding his parents to do a wide range of things from changing the ecto-filter to attending Danny and Sam's wedding. He found one with Jazz's address and started thinking about how it was funny that Jazz moved to Chicago. She'd always said that if she moved it would be to the East Coast somewhere. As he moved onto the next note he doubled back, realizing that the note was written in his handwriting.

"Plain sight, common object," he muttered as he looked at it. "Hey guys! I found something!" Danny yelled up the stairs. The rest of them came running down and he pointed to the post-it note.

"Now that is clever," Jacob remarked as he saw it.

"I know. It barely registered."

"That's now two references to Jazz," Kimberly informed them. "Does that mean we're supposed to go to Jazz's house?"

"Maybe eventually, but as much as I want to I don't think we should go until we have some more information, like the use for the ectoplasm stuff. I just have this feeling that there's more in Amity than just a note and Jazz's address. There's just too many questions that need answering."

"Well, we'll worry about it later. I think we should call it a night. Maybe a few hours of sleep will clear our minds, help us think a little better," Sam suggested.

"Sounds good to me, but where are you going to stay?" Noelle asked.

"We can just stay here. It looks like it's still in working order."

"No, you can't do that. People with approved access come in here all the time. It's too risky. Why don't you guys head back to my house? We have enough spare bedrooms to hide you."

"Thanks. But can we fly this time? It goes a lot faster."

Kimberly smiled and nodded her head. They activated both the shields and flew back to Kimberly's house where they settled themselves in bed and drifted into welcome sleep.

A/N: Grr... the dumb line things aren't working...

Anywho, thus begins the quest for the letters and information!

And I just wanted to give you guys a little hint. Actually, it's more of a teaser, but same difference, right? I just wanted to say that in this story, dates are very important. There's a lot of stuff that happens in the year before Danny's disappearance (which if you don't remember was on November 12, 2014) as well as the year after. So when I give you a date, like say, I dunno, the date the letter was written, it'll be important later.


	9. The English Teacher

A/N: I'm sorry for how late this one is too! It got shoved aside from trying to get ASU written, but it's up now!

And the mystery shall thicken even further! I hope you're all keeping up : ) My offer for help still stands, and I'd also be totally interested in hearing any theories you have, just because I think it's fun! Mystery's are so much fun to write...especially due to my cliffie-happy tendencies. With mysteries, it's like the whole story is a giant cliffie! That just makes me happy : )

And again, a huge thank you to all reader and reviewers! You guys are stupendous! (look, it's a different adjective other than awesome and amazing!)

Alright and again with the self promotion. If you don't already know, the first chapter of Tortured Revenge (sequel to Tortured Truth) is now up, so if you enjoyed the first one, I definitely recommend the second one! Also, I'm going to have a new "story" up called "Lessons in Danny Phantom Philosophy" It's just going to be a set of essays (I hate to use that word, but that's technically what they are) delving into certain deeper topics of Danny Phantom that the show touches on but never really discusses. The first one is going to be about how ghost hunting came about and how their rather biased theories were developed and why they have gone unproved. It's a really interesting write and hopefully a more interesting read! Some other topics will include things such as insight into Danny's love life (with cannon proof to back up both DxS and DxV) and more about Dan and his and Danny's relationship with time. I'm really excited, so I hope you'll take a look when it goes up!

God, I need to stop blathering...I'm starting to sound like Jack... So, onto the chapter!

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Chapter Nine  
The English Teacher

The next morning Kimberly woke up and looked around her room, wondering if everything that she remembered was just a dream. Everything in her room was exactly the same as it was before she went to bed, so it very well could have been a dream. But it just as easily could have really happened.

She shook Noelle awake who opened her eyes with a grunt.

"Why'd you wake me up? I was having a good dream."

"Was it about meeting Danny Fenton?"

"Wha-yeah. How'd you know?"

"Because I had the same one. I don't think it was a dream."

"Would be awesome if it wasn't."

"Well there's only one way to find out." She jumped out of bed and headed towards the guest bedroom that, in her dream, she'd given to Danny and Tucker. She knocked lightly on the door and heard shuffling inside. Then she heard a sigh of relief as the door opened, revealing Danny Fenton's warm face. It wasn't a dream, it all really happened.

"You scared us. We thought it was like your parents or something," he stated as they walked into the room and he shut the door behind them. They joined Tucker, Sam, and Jacob who were already on the bed.

"No, they'd never just randomly look into the guest bedroom. So, did you have a good sleep?"

"I don't think I've ever slept in a more comfortable bed!" Tucker exclaimed as he threw himself back down onto the pile of pillows.

"I'll take that as a yes," Kimberly responded with a smile. "Do you guys want some breakfast?"

Tucker sat up, his wide eyes glittering, as if his morning couldn't get any better.

"Won't it look suspicious?" Sam asked.

"Nah, the cooks don't ask questions and we're friends with Jacob, so they're used to cooking a lot of food for just the three of us."

"Hey, I don't eat that much!"

"Cooks…" Tucker drooled in awe.

"Breakfast would be great," Danny responded before throwing a pillow at Tucker.

"Alright, be back in a few."

A few minutes later Kimberly and Noelle brought up trays of pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, omelets, the works. They dived into the food, satisfying their starving bellies.

"Danny, why don't you tell them the good news?" Sam reminded.

"What good news?" Kimberly asked.

"Danny and Sam have decided to push things up a little and are going to get married now instead of waiting," Tucker answered, hiding behind a pillow after seeing Danny and Sam's evil looks.

"You are so going down," Danny threatened, his eyes glowing green.

"Not if I take him down first!" Sam responded as she tackled him, pummeling the pillow with her fists. Danny dashed around the side of the bed and turned Tucker's pillow-shield intangible, so Sam's fists were able to make contact with their desired target.

"Hey, no fair!" Tucker yelled as he placed his arms in front of his face, trying to protect himself from Sam's punches.

"That's what you get for making yet _another_ comment about that!" Danny responded.

"He's been doing it all morning," Jacob explained to the two girls and they nodded their heads in understanding. Kimberly smiled as she watched the friends argue. These were the moments the bedtime stories and the heroic tales didn't mention, the moments where they just acted like normal friends, without the cares or worries of the world upon their shoulders.

"Alright alright, I get it! No more Danny/Sam cracks! Just stop hitting me!"

Sam got off him and, upon Danny's silent urging, off the bed as well. Danny walked casually around the bed, placing his hand on it. The bed turned intangible and Tucker fell through it with a scream as Sam and Danny started laughing in satisfactory revenge.

"What was that for?" Tucker asked as he crawled out from under the bed.

"To make sure you remember," Danny responded as Tucker gave him an evil glare.

"So, the good news?" Kimberly asked.

"Oh yeah! We know where to go next."

"What? Where? How?" Noelle asked.

"It hit me in my sleep. The clue in the letter, besides the ectoplasm stuff, wasn't the bookstore or the dinner, it was Lancer."

"Lancer?" Noelle and Kimberly asked.

Danny nodded his head. "I remembered what you'd said Kimberly, about how Lancer and I suddenly got really close and how he gets really sentimental about me missing. If I was really that close to him, then I would probably trust him enough to leave him another note or some clue. That reference to Lancer in the note was a clue, telling me where to go next."

"So then it's off to Lancer's," Kimberly stated.

"Only one problem, does anyone know where Lancer lives?" Sam asked.

"The school," Jacob answered while Kimberly and Noelle groaned.

"Did I miss something?" Danny asked.

"Jacob has this theory that Lancer lives in his classroom since he never seems to leave it."

"It's not a theory! It's true, and I'll find the proof someday! I'd already have it if Kimberly would have cooperated and looked behind the walls for the bed…"

"So no, we don't know where Lancer lives," Noelle interrupted.

"Alright, I don't mean to rain on your parade Danny, especially since I don't want to fall through the bed again, but this is just a thought: if we were supposed to go to Lancer's house, then wouldn't you have included it somewhere?"

"For once Tucker has a point," Sam admitted.

"Oh come on. You can't expect me to think of everything. Besides, it can't be too hard to find someone's address. There's got to be a record of it somewhere, like on the internet?" Danny hinted towards Tucker.

"Wha-oh!" Tucker remarked as his eyes went wide with understanding and anticipation.

"I'll go get my laptop," Kimberly informed them as she headed out of the room and returned a few minutes later with the desired object. She placed it in front of Tucker who turned it on with great excitement as he beheld the operating program he created.

"It's beautiful…" he drooled as he looked on in awe.

"Yeah yeah, it's very nice Tucker. Congratulations and all that. Now, Lancer's address?"

"Oh, right."

A few minutes later Tucker had the address (to which Jacob replied that Lancer had to have a place to send his mail, but it didn't necessarily mean he lived there) and the six of them got ready to leave, Danny, Tucker, and Sam wearing hats, sunglasses and jackets in the hope of disguising themselves from anyone who happened to know what they looked like.

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They walked up the short path leading up to a small house with no personality save a rocking chair on the porch next to a wicker table, where Danny was sure Lancer read all his novels. He had to be a rabid reader to know that many book names.

As they walked up the path, Jacob looked sadly at the house, like it had wounded him somehow.

"Oh, what's wrong Jacob? Does the existence of this house disprove your theory?" Noelle teased.

"Yeah, it does," he answered sadly.

They approached the door and Danny rang the doorbell, the sound echoing throughout the halls of the house. The door opened and Mr. Lancer's surprised face appeared behind it. "Miss Jordan, is something wrong?"

"Not exactly Mr. Lancer, but we need your help."

"My help? What do you mean."

"Can we please come in?" Kimberly asked as Noelle and Jacob looked behind them, making sure no one was paying any attention.

"Of course, but…who are your friends?" Lancer asked nervously, noticing their paranoid behavior.

"Mr. Lancer, inside please," Kimberly begged.

"Yes yes, of course. Please, come in."

He led them inside the house and sat them down in the living room.

"Now, will you tell me what's going on?"

"Well Mr. Lancer, it's kinda…" Kimberly began.

"Mr. Lancer," Danny announced, causing Lancer to turn to face the disguised figure, staring at him in wonder, recognizing the voice, but not believing what he heard. Danny took off the jacket, hat, and sunglasses and Lancer stared in disbelief. He could never forget that face, the face of his favorite student, of his hero, of his friend.

"Mr-Mr. Fenton?" Lancer asked as he walked closer to the boy. Danny nodded his head and Lancer ran towards him, embracing him in a hug as tears poured out of his eyes. "Ms. Manson, Mr. Foley," Lancer remarked as he ran over to give them hugs as well.

"Wuthering Heights, how…how is this possible?" he asked when he finally finished embracing his long lost students.

"It's…it's really complicated. But before we get anywhere, I need to tell you something, about me, otherwise nothing will make sense. See, I'm—"

"Danny Phantom," Lancer supplied as the six of them stared at him in shock.

"Wait, he knows about you?" Kimberly asked.

"You know about me?" Danny replied while Lancer chuckled, tears of joy still lingering in his eyes.

"Yes Mr. Fenton. I found out your junior year after you saved me from a ghost but used far too much energy for your own good."

"Oh," Danny remarked, surprised to hear that Lancer already knew. "Who…who else have I told?"

"I don't think you told anyone; I think they all found out themselves. Your parents found out, and yes they still loved you, and I believe Ms. Jordan's parents know as well."

"Wait, what?" Kimberly asked, now the one feeling surprised.

"I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but your parents and the Fentons were very close friends and your father roomed with Mr. Fenton in college. Naturally, he found out because, as you told me in your e-mails, it was quite hard hiding fighting ghosts from someone you spend almost all your time with."

Kimberly sat down in a chair and stared at the coffee table. She always knew there was some connection between the two families, but when she found out Danny was part ghost, the thought never crossed her mind that her parents would be in so far that they'd know about it as well. They had to know what caused Danny's disappearance, and they'd been keeping it a secret from her and her sisters all these years. She felt a little angry at them for hiding the fact that he may be alive from the rest of them, but she also couldn't blame them. She wasn't exactly the model figure of honesty.

"So, I believe you have quite a story to tell Mr. Fenton, beginning with why Clockwork sent you into the future."

"Wow. I did tell you a lot," Danny remarked while Lancer smiled.

"Yes, you did. Now, does your visit mean there's some hope, that you're still alive? That you're coming back?"

"Yeah, that's why we're here. Clockwork sent us here to save myself from the ghost that kidnapped him."

"But we need to gather information first, and we don't really have much of it," Sam added.

Danny, Tucker, and Sam started filling Lancer in on everything they'd found out from Clockwork or while at the old Fenton house while Lancer nodded his head or asked further questions, a lot of which they didn't have the answers to. Finally, they touched upon the subject of the letter.

"We figured out that the clues are located in letters that I wrote to people, which is how we found out a lot of the information we told you, so we were wondering if I ever happened to send you a letter by mail."

Lancer thought back on times long since past and nodded his head. "You know, I believe you did. Give me a second to locate it."

They nodded their heads while Lancer retreated upstairs to locate the desired letter.

"Wow, this is really weird," Danny remarked. "Lancer found out. That's just…weird."

"Everything here is weird," Sam clarified as she wandered around the living room, looking at all the photographs.

"Yeah, I agree with you there. I thought I was going to have to explain everything to him. And my parents know too. I wonder how they found out."

"I don't know, but I think you should let it go. Knowing too much about your future might completely change it because you may choose to avoid something in it," Jacob advised.

"I think I know too much about my future already," he replied, his eyes flickering briefly towards Kimberly.

Mr. Lancer emerged in the living room, a letter held in his hands. He handed it to Danny who unfolded it and read it aloud.

_February 13, 2014  
Mr. Lancer, _

_Hey, how've you been? I haven't seen or heard from you in such a long time! I've wanted to come visit you, but I've just been so busy, which really isn't a good excuse I know, but you know more than anyone how good I am at giving those out! So I've tried to contact you some other way, but as far as I know you don't have VM or even e-mail, so, I'm resorting to a letter, one thing I know you'll look at._

_I'm taking it upon myself to schedule a time for us to get together and catch up on things, and you have no excuse not to attend because we all know that you don't have a life besides school, and you can always grade papers later. Besides, would you pass up a chance to spend time with your favorite student? Didn't think so. So I'm thinking next Friday at the usual restaurant, my treat. You'd better be there!_

_So, let's see what there is in the way of new happenings. Sam's still pregnant, and I'm still suffering (just don't tell her I said that). Yesterday she wanted me to run out to the store and grab lemon flavored ice cream, not caring that it didn't exist. So I actually had to buy lemon juice and mix it into vanilla ice cream. I just don't understand…_

_Oh, I just got word from Valerie. She's engaged to some ghost researcher that she met at work. Go figure. I guess opposites don't always attract. Still, I'm happy for her. As long as they don't decide to team up to capture and do research on Danny Phantom, I'm totally fine. Their wedding's in a few months and I know for a fact you're invited, so be expecting an invitation._

_So I just saw National Treasure for the first time since I was fifteen. Man that is an awesome movie! The people in there are so smart, as were the founding fathers! Anyways, it's all about history so I figured you'd like it, since it's right up your alley. If you haven't seen it, which I'm sure you haven't, you really should. I think you'd enjoy it. And I know you're probably rolling your eyes at me, but it is highly conceivable that good movies exist. Remember how good the movie of Lord of the Rings was even though it wasn't a book? Well, it was based off a book, but still…_

_So, next Friday, usual time, usual place. Maybe we can watch National Treasure after that! That'll make sure you see it! Either way, don't be late!_

_Danny_

"So, same protocol as last time?" Jacob asked.

"Not exactly, because this time we've got Lancer to answer our questions for us."

A few minutes later the seven of them were sitting in a circle in the parlor awaiting pizza, which Jacob acknowledged as brain food.

"See, it's an excellent theory I developed freshman year," Jacob started explaining to Danny and his friends. Kimberly and Noelle had been subject to it many times, as had Lancer, since Jacob would constantly use his theory as a reason to have a pizza party instead of class. "Whenever you have a study group, there's always pizza because people believe it attracts people. But really, the pizza is the reason why study groups are beneficial. It's not the discussions and peer help that improve understanding; it's the pizza. Pizza is a brain food. It triggers increased mental activity allowing for better understanding of problems and one of these days, I'm going to prove it with actual research into the reactions caused when the ingredients in pizza are broken down and combined with each other in the body."

"Or in other words, another crackpot theory of Jacob's," Noelle summarized.

"It is not a crackpot theory! I'm going to prove it!"

"Well until then, I think we should start analyzing this letter," Danny suggested and Jacob quickly turned his attention, focusing on the new mystery at hand. A few minutes later, the six of them had their paragraphs analyzed and were ready to question Lancer.

"Alright, was the greeting true? When you received the letter had you not heard from Danny in a long time?" Jacob asked.

"Well, we didn't really see each other every day, or sometimes for weeks on end, and at the time it was another one of those streaks. I don't think many people saw Danny at that time, but there was a lot going on at work so we didn't really think anything of it. I was wondering if he…you?"

"We refer to my future self as he," Danny explained. "While sounding totally strange, it makes things a lot easier."

"Alright. So I was wondering if he could perhaps spare a moment to maybe get together and then this letter arrived, though I was quite surprised."

"Why?"

"Well, contrary to what the letter dictates, Danny did know my e-mail and used it on many occasions. It was how we mostly remained in contact, and I do check it fairly often, since some students actually e-mail me questions and such. I have VM as well, though I hardly use it, not completely understanding it myself, so in that aspect the letter was true."

"Did you guys actually meet?" Noelle asked.

"Yes we did, and it was quite a joyous affair."

"Did anything seem off?"

"Not at all. Things seemed perfectly normal, or at least what was considered normal when Danny was around, although he did seem a little distracted, but we just thought it was business or the fact that Sam was due next month and he was soon going to be a father. Now that I think back on it, it was probably because he had some indication then that he was in danger."

"That's what we think," Danny agreed.

"To think that he was living, going on with daily business, keeping a calm façade when in reality he knew danger loomed over himself, and we never even noticed."

"Well, I am a good actor," Danny joked with a smile.

"Alright, I don't know if it's fate that I ended up with the paragraph discussing my pregnancy or just some sick joke, but the only thing I caught was a lemon reference, like the one we found at your house."

"But it's not ectoplasm infused," Jacob pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. It's repetition, and in coded things, repetition always matters, so there's something special about that lemon stuff."

"Well, we won't be able to do anything with it until we find it," Kimberly pointed out.

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "So, moving on: Valerie."

"She did get married that year and the man was very nice and a perfect match for her. Honestly, I can't see what's important about this."

"Well, unless Valerie knows something."

"Why would she?" Lancer asked. "You never told her about yourself, so why would you tell her about the ghost that's going to kidnap you?"

"Maybe she's heard of him? I mean, she is a ghost hunter, and probably still is," Lancer nodded his head "and her husband researches ghosts, so if he was an up and coming ghost, she probably knows something about it."

"Probably. In high school she was always on top of things, especially when they concerned you, so I'd hate to see how she is after more experience," Sam added.

"I think this is a hint to visit Valerie, see what she knows. Maybe I sent her a letter as well. It would make sense. Why would some ghost think that I would send a letter to the Red Hunter concerning something about my ghost half? It would be the perfect ploy."

"Wait, the Red Hunter?" Kimberly asked. "_Valerie_ was the Red Hunter?"

"Yeah," Danny answered.

"You mean to tell me that she didn't come out and tell everyone?" Sam asked. "That seems so unlike her."

"No. That wouldn't be a necessarily good idea since she hunted one of the city's heroes," Lancer answered.

"Ah, good point. Then I guess it's off to see old Val. Can't think of anyone I'd rather see," Sam remarked.

"Mr. Lancer, did you ever see National Treasure?" Kimberly interrupted, getting back on track.

"I did, but not until after Danny disappeared. This was the only time he ever mentioned it as a matter of fact. After he disappeared I started looking through all the things I had of his, and I found this letter. After reading that paragraph, I decided I should watch it, since it seemed like he wanted me to and I wanted to honor his wishes."

"Danny?" Kimberly asked.

"Hmm?" he responded, puzzled that she would be asking him a question.

"What do you think of the movie?"

"Well, it's not the worst movie I've ever seen, but it isn't as good as I made it out to be in the letter. I mean sure it was ingenious and everything, but it's not really my style."

"So there must be something important about the movie for you to mention it, like you wanted Lancer to see it for some reason and not just because he'd like it," Kimberly stated.

"Or you were just looking for a common context to slip the movie into," Jacob remarked.

"Well either way, the movie or something about the movie is a clue," Sam added.

"Yeah, especially since you repeat it in the conclusion," Tucker added. "And that's pretty much all there is in that paragraph. Why do I always get the conclusion?"

"Because we knew your limited brain couldn't handle anything else," Sam teased.

"Because that's the straw you picked when we did the first letter," Danny informed him, trying to keep the peace.

"Still, it's not fair…"

"Hey, is that the year book from our senior year?" Sam asked as she looked at the bookshelf across the room.

"Yes, your class yearbook is in there, and yes, you may have a look at it," Lancer answered with a smile.

The trio ran over to the shelf, interested to see what would happen to everyone in the future while Jacob and Noelle ran with them, eager to see pictures of the figures they saw at the memorial service in their high school days.

Kimberly however remained behind, wanting to ask Lancer a question that had been bothering her thoughts for a while.

"Mr. Lancer? That photograph you look at in your office after class, that's a picture of Danny, isn't it?"

"At his graduation. He was so happy, knowing that he actually managed to graduate, and without spilling his secret to the entire school too. At school Danny always felt like a son to me and on that day I felt like a proud father whose brave and heroic son still managed to graduate even though he spent all his free time trying to sort through the complicated and difficult life fate handed him. It is by far my favorite photograph of him."

"But, if you don't mind me asking, why do you look at it after I leave?"

"I'm sure you've noticed the similarities between your face and Danny's. Whenever I see you, it reminds me of him, reminds me of him sitting in my class, falling asleep during a lecture, reminds me of his unexpected and unexplained requests to use the bathroom, reminds me of the student that used to be here.

"Now if you don't mind me asking you a question, how did you know that I had that picture in the first place? I keep it in a locked drawer."

"Oh, well, Noelle's really good at picking locks because she does it all the time to get into her sibling's personal stuff." Kimberly didn't really want to get Noelle in trouble, but she didn't want to expose herself either. Plus, Noelle was somewhat proficient at picking locks, so she wasn't lying that much.

"I see," Lancer stated slowly in a tone that made Kimberly feel like he had something else on his mind, but didn't quite feel like sharing.

"Alright, I think it's time we moved on," Danny stated as he put the book back on the shelf. "We've still got to visit Valerie and who knows who else before we figure this thing out."

"I understand," Mr. Lancer stated sadly. "But, I will be seeing you soon, right?"

"You can count on it. I'm not going to give up until I'm back safe and sound here in Amity."

"Good. Knowing that the three, well six of you, are on the job brings me great hope. I know you'll succeed. There never was anyone better than catching ghosts and foiling evil plans like Team Phantom. Which reminds me, are you going to see Jazz?"

"Definitely. Even if I don't hint to it, I'm going to visit her. She more than anyone needs to know I'll be back soon."

Lancer nodded his head. "Good. Oh, and keep this," he suggested, handing Danny the letter. "It might come in handy in case you need to reread it."

"Thanks Mr. Lancer."

Lancer gave the three visitors warm hugs goodbye, his eyes tearing, despite their constant promises that they'd be seeing him shortly, just twenty years older. They walked down the steps, waving a final farewell to Lancer at the door.

"So, to Valerie's?" Danny asked as they headed to Kimberly's hover car and drove down the street.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: And there's more to the mystery! Woot! And look, more dates!

And just another fun little hint, if I were you, I'd take Sam's advice about noticing repetition into consideration, and not just when looking at the letters...


	10. The Red Hunter

A/N: Yay, it's the next chapter! And you know what that means...more information...and possibly another cliffie...because those are two givens from my stories that you can constantly expect. Although, if my memory serves me right, this one doesn't have that large of a cliffy at the end...

And gasp shock awe, instead of this story being shunted aside by ASU, I actually decided to write it first this time! Actually, I wrote most of it right after the previous chapter because I was on a roll, but you guys don't really need to know that... And yes, the next chapter of ASU will be up soon. I don't think the world wants me to finish this story, so it's going to delete as much writing time as I have. But I'll make it through!

And on a similar note, LDPP will be coming soon, I promise. It's actually a lot harder than I thought, and I kinda got distracted on Wikipedia...but that's beside the point. I've got a few more points I want to discuss and then the first entry will be done!

Oh, and just remember the hint at the end of last chapter...repitition is the key...

* * *

Chapter Ten  
The Red Hunter

"Um Danny, have you even thought about how you're going to handle this?" Sam asked as they approached the address Lancer had given them.

"What do you mean?"

"How you're going to explain showing up at her door even though you're supposed to be missing and twenty years younger without involving ghosts."

"Oh, well, I really don't know."

"So you're just going to walk up there and wing it?"

"Um…yes?"

"Here's a wild suggestion, why don't you just tell her the truth?" Jacob suggested.

"Oh yes, tell the Red Hunter that one of her best friends has been lying to her for the past twenty plus years and is really Danny Phantom who she'd been hunting throughout high school and who knows how many years after that. Oh yes, that's a brilliant idea."

"Well, she did reform," Kimberly informed them. "She never went as far as helping you, but she didn't hunt you anymore."

"Only because her reputation probably wouldn't allow it," Sam replied bitterly.

"But she's always really sad at the memorial service."

"For Danny Fenton maybe, but not for Danny Phantom."

"What happened between the two of you?"

"Oh I found this dog that was bent on ruining Valerie's life and she thought it was my dog so she blamed me and then Plasmius gave her ghost hunting weapons and the rest, as they say, is history," Danny described.

"So it's all over some stupid dog?" Noelle asked.

"Basically."

"Well maybe she's forgotten about it? I mean, she loves working with ghosts and has a good and happy life now, so maybe now she won't hate you as much for it?" Kimberly suggested.

"Hopefully."

"Wait, you're not seriously considering telling her, are you?" Sam asked.

"What choice do I have? I need the information out of her and I'm not going to let some dumb secret that should probably have been told to her already stand in the way. This is all happening because it's meant to be this way, so she's meant to find out now."

"You're sounding a lot like Clockwork."

"I think I've been hanging around with him too much. It's starting to affect my brain."

A few minutes later they pulled up to the white two story house on the corner that belonged to Valerie. The six of them got out of the car and headed up the pristine walkway, knocking nervously on the door, praying it was Valerie that answered.

Unfortunately, prayer didn't seem to be with them at the moment. A tall man with curly brown hair and glasses opened the door.

"Yes?" he asked curtly, not liking the look of six teenagers at his door, especially when three of them are disguised in hats, sunglasses, and jackets.

"Um, we're here to speak with Valerie," Kimberly stated.

"I'm sorry, but she doesn't answer questions about the Fentons. Go bother someone else like Dash or Paulina who like the attention."

"I'm not here to ask questions about the Fentons. If I had questions I'd ask my parents. I'm Kimberly Jordan. We've met briefly at my parents' memorial parties."

The name seemed to ring a bell in Jason's head and he nodded his head. "Sorry, but after the memorial service kids come to the door all the time trying to ask questions or see a picture of Danny. I'll go get her." He shut the door and left.

"Well, he could've at least invited us in," Sam stated rudely, obviously trying to find fault with the man who would actually be able to stand being married to Valerie.

"I think he was far from doing that. Only one of five is accounted for, and he still has no clue who the rest of you are."

Finally Valerie opened the door, her hair cut short, her eyes shining with maturity and knowledge.

"Kimberly, hi. What brings you and your…friends here."

"Valerie, sorry to bother you, but we need to talk to you, urgently."

"Urgently? What do you mean? Where are your parents?"

"Please don't try to change the subject. We need your help. It has to do with a ghost."

"A ghost? There haven't been ghosts here for…"

"Valerie please," Kimberly begged.

"Alright, come on in."

"Val, what's going on?" her husband asked as the six of them walked into the house.

"I don't know, something about a ghost. You kids better not be making this up or I'll be telling your parents."

"We're not making this up, I promise. Danny, if you please."

"Danny?" Valerie asked as she turned towards one of the mysterious figures. He removed his hat and glasses and Valerie gasped.

"Hey Val," he greeted while Valerie fell onto the couch to keep from fainting.

"How-how is this possible?" she asked in amazement.

Danny pulled out the medallion from under his shirt. "I don't know if you know who Clockwork is, but he's a ghost that controls time, and he sent Sam, Tucker, and me here."

"Sam and Tucker…" she breathed as they removed their disguises as well.

"Hey Valerie! Long time no see!" Tucker greeted while Sam stepped on his foot.

"That was hardly appropriate," she scolded.

"Wait I'm confused. That's Danny Fenton? And Sam Manson?" Valerie's husband asked.

"Yeah, nice to meet you. You must be Valerie's husband. Lancer told us about you," Danny greeted.

"And you're here because of a ghost that controls time? So this does have to do with a ghost?" he asked.

"Actually, it has to do with more than one. Quite a few actually."

"But Danny, how'd you get wrapped up with ghosts anyway?" Valerie asked.

"Before I answer that, I need to ask you something. Is he trustworthy?" he asked, pointing to her husband.

"Jason? Of course he is, how could you—"

"Valerie, this is really important. The life of my future self might be at stake here and I need you to answer me. Is he trustworthy?"

"Yes."

"And are you trustworthy?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"Considering what I'm about to reveal, yes."

"Danny, you can trust me with anything."

"Alright, I'm holding you to that. Look, there's something you don't know about me, and something I probably should have told you a long time ago. I probably would have if I didn't go missing, and I'm sorry to have to tell you like this, but you need to know or else you won't understand."

Valerie looked at him curiously, not understanding what could possibly be so pressing that she already didn't know about. They'd been friends for a long time, how much stuff could she not know about him?

Danny took a deep breath and the white rings formed around his waist, transforming him into Danny Phantom. Valerie's face paled.

"I know I should've told you a long time ago, and I'm sorry," Danny apologized in the voice Valerie had long since associated with as her enemy's. "I know this is probably really hard to accept and I'm sorry you have to find out this way, but it's the only way."

"But-but…how?" she managed to stammer, still staring in disbelief at Danny Phantom, the ghost she'd hunted, the ghost she'd hated, and all along it had been her friend.

"The accident in the ghost portal. I fell in and became a half ghost, and don't try telling me it's impossible because I'm sick of hearing it. They do exist and I'm one of them."

"Th-the dog?"

Danny sighed. "Look, he was never my dog. I just found him and he got attached to me and followed me everywhere. Everything that happened to you wasn't my fault. I can't tell you how many times I tried to tell you that but you just wouldn't listen and then things got…a little out of hand. And please don't start blaming me for shooting at you because in all fairness you usually shot at me first.

"But unfortunately this really isn't the time. You can talk about this with my future self later, which is why I apologized for doing this now when I can't give it justice. I wish I could answer all your questions and help you, but I just don't have the time. I know I'm asking a lot of you, but I need you to accept the fact that I'm Danny Phantom and to trust me, like you do the human part of me. I really need to find myself, and I need your help to do it."

"Do you…do you know why you went missing?" Valerie asked, starting to find her voice.

"Just bits and pieces. We know I was kidnapped by a ghost, but we don't know who or what he's capable of or why he wanted me in the first place. And we've assumed that I knew of it before-hand, which brings me to why we're here. A few months before I went missing I started sending letters to people with clues in them as to what happened. One of the clues in the last letter was you, so I have to ask, did I ever send you any letters?"

"Quite a few actually, but there was one that contained a pretty lengthy note."

"Can we see it?"

"Yeah, let me go find it," she stated as she stood up and walked slowly upstairs, her husband following after her. They were obviously still shocked.

"Well, that went better than expected," Sam stated.

"For a few seconds I thought she was going to shoot me," Danny admitted.

"Man Danny, you've got some strange relationships with people," Jacob muttered.

"Tell me about it. You should've seen me with my parents. Now those were some weird conversations, especially when they came to ghost inventions. It's a good thing for my parents that I didn't find the Ghost Gabber in the basement, because it would've been toast."

"You know what that means then?" Tucker asked. "It means they finally let you destroy it!"

"Or they took it with them to help them find you," Sam pointed out.

"Please Sam, I was actually enjoying the thought of destroying it in the future…" Danny moaned as he reverted back to his human form.

About ten minutes later Valerie finally made her way downstairs. Danny knew it took her so long because she was upstairs trying to sort through her thoughts before she came back downstairs and he was glad of it because she seemed more composed, more accepting of the truth.

She handed the letter to Danny and then finally seemed to remember that there were three others in the room.

"How did the three of you get mixed up in this?" she asked as she sat back down on the couch.

"Danny ended up in my house while we were at a sleepover and needless to say we've been intrigued since then. Now we're just trying to help him piece the puzzle together," Kimberly explained.

"And the puzzle just got a lot more complicated," Danny stated as he finished skimming the letter. He cleared his throat and began to read.

_May 26, 2014_

_Valerie,  
__How're you? How are wedding plans going? Don't answer, I think I already know. I'm sure Jason isn't doing much to help, but then again, neither did I, so I guess I can't really blame him. My theory was that staying out of the way was helping the most and I think Sam agreed with me, but then again that was probably why the colors were black and purple. Oh well, I knew it was coming anyways, since Sam was planning the wedding, though I did manage to notice the pink bouquet the Mansons snuck in. But that's not the important thing here, the important thing is your wedding! I hope you're not pulling your hair out!_

_Which leads me to the main point of this letter and the reason for the check enclosed along with it. I want to help out in any way I can and since I'm not very good at the planning part (hence my lack of involvement in my own wedding) I'm going to help through the only way I can: money. And don't you dare refuse this check! I know you've refused and torn up the others (you can't hide from me!) but I swear that if you tear this one up I'm going to have to get violent. I'm sure I can sneak into my parents' house and steal some of their weapons… So cash the check this time! It's to help with the wedding, so stop being noble and just cash it already!_

_So, to add a little to the letter to make it seem worth going through the trouble of writing, my parents came over for dinner last night and while Sam and I were discussing that new book that just came out my parents decided to put in their two cents as well. Turns out they'd read the book as well. Well, you can guess where the talk ended up despite the therapy: ghosts. They started saying how the book made all these allusions to this mythic ghost named Manipulator. They said he was a great mythical ghost of legend. Well, as interesting as the story was (not) we couldn't get them to shut up! And to think that when we first heard they'd read the book we were so proud of them for reading something other than ghost research material. They were getting out of their obsession, listening to their therapist, but to no avail. They somehow managed to find a way to bring ghosts into what we considered a safe conversation. Honestly, I still don't see the connection…_

_Did you happen to watch the Packers at the Superbowl on Sunday? It was a phenomenal game! They totally clobbered the other team! I'm sure Packer fans are pretty happy right now since they haven't won a Superbowl in a while. It was actually a really good game too. We had a huge party at the house and everything. I invited you (just to let you know) but Jason said you were going out to dinner, so you're excused. Besides, I think I'd rather go to dinner than a Superbowl party._

_And Jason's such a great guy, just to let you know. I couldn't be happier for you! It was a lot of fun finally getting a chance to meet him. We're actually going to a baseball game next week (I don't know if he's told you this yet) so we can get better acquainted. I'm looking forward to it. He's great to hang around with and has such a great sense of humor. Who would've guessed from a scientist? Just kidding. Although, if he doesn't like Lord of the Rings, I'm sorry but, you're going to have to find another guy. It's just sacrilege otherwise._

_Oh, it was so cute, Victoria was trying to say Fruit Loops this morning! It was adorable! Sam went all motherly and started spazing out while trying to find a camera so that she could record it. She denies it now and she'll probably kill me for telling you this, but trust me, she was. Is that just some natural woman thing? Does it eventually pass? Let's hope so, because it was about as creepy as seeing her with that flour baby. Oh man, bad memories, must block out…_

_Anyway, hope you're well and not killing yourself with wedding plans! And cash the check!_

_Danny_

"Wow, talk about dense," Tucker remarked. "That's a lot of information."

"Which means there's probably a lot of excess information as well," Jacob pointed out. "Let's split 'er up."

A few minutes later the paragraphs were analyzed and the team was ready to question Valerie and piece together the next part of the mystery.

"Alright, first thing's first, I think it's hilarious that you openly admit that you didn't help plan your own wedding."

"Jacob," Kimberly warned.

"What? I just had to say it. So in seriousness, the only really important thing I could fish out was a reference to Sam's parents and the pink bouquet. The rest of it just seems like the usual opening filler to throw possible spies off track. Then again, the reference to the Mansons might be just to throw us off too."

"Do you think it means we need to visit them?" Noelle asked.

"I don't know. Like I said, it could just be filler, but then again, the same could've been said about the other hints as well."

"Alright, so we've got a possible reference to Sam's parents," Danny recapped. "Noelle?"

"What does it mean by check?" she asked Valerie.

"Inside the note Danny sent a pretty hefty check. He'd sent a lot of them before, probably since he had more money than he knew what to do with, but I never accepted them and tore them up, like the letter said. We did cash this one though because any money during wedding planning is welcome money."

"Anything interesting about the check?"

"Not that I can recall. I don't have it if that's what you mean."

"It might just be another 'here's my excuse for writing this letter'," Sam suggested. "That seems to be pretty common in the letters. The reference in the next paragraph, however, is not. You mentioned a ghost named Manipulator and I'm willing to bet my individuality that he's the one that kidnapped you."

"Yeah, I think you're right," Danny agreed. "Val, have you ever heard of a ghost called Manipulator, like in ghost legend or something?"

"Nope, though I never really looked him up. I thought it interesting when you mentioned it, but I just thought it was some crazy Mr. and Mrs. Fenton thing and didn't really pay it that close of attention. What about you honey?" Jason shook his head. "Sorry."

"Well, at least we know the name. Now we just need a background and a profile to go with it."

"And I'm sorry, but I just have to ask. Ghost therapy?" Sam asked.

Valerie chuckled. "It was Jazz's idea. She thought that maybe if they talked about their ghost obsession with someone and sought psychiatric help they'd be 'cured of their obsession' and 'live like normal parents', as she claimed. As you can see, it was a complete failure."

"I don't need this passage in the note to know it would be a failure. My parents would never give up ghosts. Anywho, the point of my paragraph could only be referring to one person."

"Vlad," Tucker and Sam replied.

Danny nodded. "Who else?"

"Vlad Masters? Why would he be in the letter?" Valerie asked and Kimberly had to admit she was wondering the same thing. She'd only seen the multimillionaire at one or two memorial services, usually only coming every five years, but she didn't think he was that close to Danny to be referenced.

"Because he's the one responsible? Although, I think that's giving him way too much credit."

"What are you talking about?"

"Vlad's Plasmius, or the Wisconsin Ghost, or whatever he's referred to nowadays."

Everyone save the infamous trio stared at Danny in shock.

"Vlad M-Masters is _Plasmius_?" Valerie asked.

"Yeah. I know you got your weapons from Vlad and the reason he sent them to you was so that you could hunt me because obviously having every ghost in the Ghost Zone plus my parents plus himself just wasn't enough."

"But, that's not possible," Kimberly argued. "Plasmius was destroyed. You destroyed him. Vlad's still alive. He comes to the memorial services every once in awhile."

"He actually comes to the services? Weird. But in all honesty, I don't think I'd ever be able to beat Vlad. He's always been a half ghost longer than me and therefore is always a step ahead of me. He must've just got…bored or something. I don't really know, but I doubt I ever defeated him."

"So you think he just…gave up or something?" Jacob asked. "Called it quits? Retired from the hunting Danny Phantom gig?"

"That would be my guess. I mean, after so long he'd probably have to just admit that I wouldn't join him and if my mom and dad found out about me I probably told them about him and thus he wouldn't have a chance with my mother, and he never was able to kill my dad. He probably just decided to call it quits and relish in the Packers."

"Plus, he's got to be insanely old. Maybe he just couldn't take it anymore and you two struck a truce?" Tucker suggested.

"Alight, so regardless of what happened to Vlad because, personally, I care more about what happened to me and Danny than I do him, can we get back to why he was referenced in the letter to begin with?" Sam asked.

"I'm praying it doesn't mean we have to visit him. I really really don't want to," Danny stated.

"I don't know if this is important or not," Jason spoke up, feeling slightly out of place "but the Packers didn't win the Superbowl that year. They didn't even make it to the Superbowl; they were booted out in the semis."

"Darn. Well, that confirms it. Combine that with the fruit loop story and we have a pretty solid request to go to Wisconsin."

"Hey, that was my paragraph!" Tucker yelled. "I finally get a paragraph that's not a conclusion and you analyze it!"

"Sorry, but it pertained to the discussion. Argh, why would I make myself go there? That's just cruel and unusual punishment!"

"Well it still might not mean that you have to visit him," Jacob comforted. "I mean, the Mansons were referenced, so maybe Vlad was just to throw you off?"

"Or the Mansons were to throw us off. Unfortunately, I definitely think it's Vlad we need to visit. I referred to him twice and it would make sense for me to send him one because no one (including me) would expect it. I take back what I said before; sending _Vlad_ a note is the perfect ploy."

"Alright, getting back on track," Sam interrupted "Kimberly, you're paragraph?"

"It's just talking about Jason, which if you ask me is just excess information and doesn't really pertain to anything."

Danny nodded in agreement and looked at Tucker.

"Well, since you already stated that the fruit loop comment is a reference to Vlad I really have nothing else to report, other than the fact that I find Sam freaking out over baby Victoria's attempts at saying fruit loop probably the best thing I've ever read."

Tucker ducked as a pillow went sailing through the space his head had just occupied.

"Yeah, well _I_ found the flour baby reference funny, since that was more a reference to you than to me. I mean, you didn't see me turning people's babies into cookies, and I was the only one to get an A on that project, thank you very much."

"Alright, alright, enough about the flour babies! There was a reason why I wrote 'bad memories' after that!" Danny intervened. "Let's just finish this up. Tucker, take the conclusion, since we can't break tradition."

Tucker sighed. "Nothing important in the conclusion. And it wasn't my fault my mom decided to make cookies!" Tucker yelled, starting up the argument again.

"Hey I said enough!" Danny yelled, his eyes flashing briefly before he calmed himself down. "Okay, so if there's nothing else in this letter we need to start heading to Vlad's. Wisconsin's pretty far, so we should get started as soon as possible."

"Um Danny," Noelle interrupted "we can't just go flying off to Wisconsin. I mean, right now my parents think I'm sleeping over at Kimberly's but they expect me to be home some time tonight."

"Yeah, mine too," Jacob admitted.

"And mine as well."

Danny sighed. "Sorry, I totally forgot about that. Look, I'm really sorry and I don't want to do this, but I need to go. I promise to come back afterward and…"

"Oh no you don't. Don't start saying goodbye and leave without us," Kimberly warned. "I said our parents expect us home sometime tonight, but I never said we couldn't convince them to let us have another sleepover later tonight. We just…need some time at home to make it more convincing. But there is no way we're letting you continue on without us."

Danny smiled. "Good, because trying to figure this out would just seem weird without you guys there."

"So plan of attack," Jacob started to explain "we go home, spend some time with our folks, tell them we're sleeping over at Kimberly's again, head there about…eight, lock ourselves in a room, and head off to Wisconsin. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and Jacob, Kimberly, and Noelle started getting ready to leave.

"But what about you three? What are you guys going to do until then?" Noelle asked.

"Well, I was thinking about just hanging out here, if that's okay with you Val," Danny answered.

Valerie smiled. "I was hoping you would. I have a lot of questions."

"Yeah, that's what I figured."

"Alright, so we'll see you at eight?" Kimberly asked on the way out the door. The three of them nodded their heads and she smiled before leaving, heading back to her house, already thinking of a story to feed her parents.

* * *

A/N: So, I finally found my way around that stupid error when it comes to the lines I love so much...copy and paste from other stories where the line worked! Now, why I didn't think of it before is beyond me...


	11. Victoria

A/N: Yay, the lines work! Finally! (composes self)

Anywho...sorry again about this being late due to getting shoved aside from writing ASU. That always seems to happen, doesn't it?

Alright, now this chapter is not what you guys expect it to be, given the structure and general outline of the past three chapters. I won't say too much since it's right below, but some things need to be covered before they go running off to Wisconsin, so sorry, no Vlad yet. But he's coming! Don't worry! But don't be disappointed, because this chapter will clear up a lot of theories you guys have, leaving the real mystery...

Oh, and just to let you know, I've posted my character profiles for Kimberly, Noelle, and Jacob on my deviantart account. They're insanely involved and half of the information probably will never come up, but it's still just fun to have. Here's the link in case you're interested http / www . deviantart . com / deviation / 40025151 / (just make sure you take out the spaces).

And thanks again for all the reviews! You guys rock! (I really need to start finding different ways to thank you guys...they all sound the same...)

* * *

Chapter Eleven  
Victoria

Thankfully Kimberly's parents agreed to let her have another sleepover, and Noelle and Jacob's parents allowed them to come over for another one, as long as they promised not to have one for two weeks, but it was a noble sacrifice.

Kimberly now sat on her bed, staring at the canopy, wishing the time to pass quicker while she let the day's events sink in. She knew she probably should be downstairs with her parents, spending time with them since she hadn't seen much of them all day, but she just felt weird talking to them. When she was trying to convince them to let her have another sleepover, something just felt off between them, and she was sure it had something to do with the revelation she'd received from Lancer.

All this time her parents had known about Danny Fenton being Danny Phantom and probably had a pretty good guess about how he disappeared as well, and still they'd never told her. They'd kept something this big a secret and she knew that until she told them she knew, things would be slightly awkward among them. She'd have to tell them, there was no other way, but she was going to wait until everything was over and the Danny of this period was found. Then she'd tell her parents everything about their adventure with the Danny from the past and maybe about being a half ghost as well. They seemed to accept Danny Fenton even though he was a ghost, so it stood to reason that they'd accept her as well.

Finally she couldn't take anymore staring at the ceiling and got up, deciding to take a walk while she tried to sift through all the information in her muddled brain. She walked, going over everything they'd learned in the letters, still trying to piece together what they still needed and trying to guess how much of the puzzle still needed to be completed. It seemed like there was still so much they didn't know, but how much longer could this go on? Tomorrow was Sunday and then it would be Monday, and Kimberly and her friends needed to go to school, and she didn't think Danny could wait until the weekend to continue looking. If she and her friends were really supposed to help them, then that would mean they'd be finishing this soon, but it seemed like there was just so much left to do, and that didn't even include actually finding and rescuing them either.

Kimberly stopped and realized she was in front of the door that leads to the attic. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been up there and figured now was as good a time as any, since she had nothing else to do. She opened the door and ascended up the staircase, coughing at the dust that flew into the air from her movement. Obviously the maids never cleaned up here, but then again, there really was no reason to. As she entered the dark room, she created an ecto-blast in her hand, searching, and failing to find, a light.

She enlarged the ecto-blast so it lit up most of the attic. Unfortunately for Kimberly's attention span, the large space was generally empty. A few stray pieces of furniture or old baby toys of hers or her siblings' were stacked in boxes here and there, but otherwise there was nothing of interest. She took a few minutes to look through the old toys, relishing in the nostalgia they brought, and was about to head back downstairs when an old chest caught her eye. It was a wooden chest the same color as the attic so it blended in nicely. Kimberly would never have noticed it had the green light of the ecto-blast not reflected off the metal of the lock.

She walked over to it, wondering why she'd never seen or heard her parents talk about it before. What could they possibly need to store in a chest up in the attic? Did it have something to do with Danny? Pictures of him were illegal, but they could only get in trouble if they were seen by others, which was why Lancer hid the photograph so well and why her father was so concerned about her seeing it. Was this where her parents stored all the old pictures? She tried to open it only to find that it was locked on both sides, each requiring a key. Kimberly smiled, knowing that something as simple as a lock wasn't going to stop her. She touched the chest and turned it intangible, moving it to the side while the contents slid out. She let go of the chest, it's majesty and splendor forgotten as she beheld the contents, not believing her eyes.

* * *

At around eight Noelle and Jacob knocked on Kimberly's door. The butler answered, remarking that he hadn't seen or heard from Kimberly all afternoon but he assumed that she was in her room. They thanked him and raced up, sure that Danny and his friends were already there. Unfortunately, no one was in the room. 

"Well, where do you think everyone is?" Jacob asked as he shut the door.

"Oh we're here," Danny answered, causing the two newcomers to jump as Danny and his friends regained visibility. "Sorry, we were hiding, just incase."

"Wait, where's Kimberly?" Noelle asked.

"We don't know. We've been waiting in here for like five minutes and we haven't seen her. We didn't know if we should go looking for her or what."

"Yeah, we probably should. It's a bad sign when the person who lives in the house is the one late for the party," Jacob remarked as he turned to head out the door, Danny, turning his friends invisible again, followed after them.

"How do you intend to find her in this huge house?" Tucker whispered.

"There are only so many places she would be. The house may be huge, but a lot of the rooms aren't worth checking since they're just offices or guest rooms or stuff like that."

"Ha, sounds like my house," Sam remarked bitterly as she stared at the interior, her dislike of large houses evident on her face.

After a few minutes they'd combed all three floors with no sign of Kimberly and neither her sisters nor Sylvia had seen her for the past hour.

"Alright, that does it. I haven't done this in a long time, but desperate times call for desperate measures," Noelle informed them.

"I'd plug your ears," Jacob advised.

"Why—" Tucker began to ask but he was cut off by Noelle.

"Marco!" she yelled loudly, standing still, listening for a response. "Well, she's not on the second floor. Let's move up to the third."

They ran up the stairs and Noelle took a deep breath while the others covered their ears. "Marco!"

"I think I heard something," Danny informed them. "It came from the left."

They nodded and headed in the direction, Noelle positioning herself in the middle of the hall and shouting again. This time all of them could distinctly hear the cry "Polo!" They continued yelling back and forth until they reached the door to the attic and entered.

"Kimberly, there you are! We've been combing the house for you!"

"What time is it?"

"Around 8:30," Jacob informed her.

"8:30?"

"Yeah. Looks like somebody got distracted and lost track of the time. What're you doing up here?"

"I was bored and wandered up into the attic and you won't believe what I found! This old chest was full of pictures and yearbooks, all containing pictures of the three of you with my parents."

"Really?" Danny asked, sitting down next to her and grabbing photos. "Wow, this is so surreal."

"From what I've found out from the pictures, my mom and Sam were roommates in college, as were my father and you, which is probably how he found out about you; it's probably really hard to keep that a secret from a roommate."

"Yeah. I probably did about as good a job keeping it from him as I did from Jazz."

"But that's not the most interesting thing. I found this group photo, dated in November of 2014, the month you disappeared."

"Really?" Danny asked, grabbing the picture. Danny and Sam were in the middle while Sam was holding a one year old. Tucker and Jazz were on one side of them while two other people, who Danny could only assume were Kimberly's parents, were on the other side. "Wow. Is this…" Danny asked, pointing at the baby girl.

"I think that's Victoria, your child."

"Oh my God," Danny remarked as he passed the picture to Sam, staring at the floor, amazed.

"I…I can't believe it…" She too deftly passed the picture to Tucker, who cracked into a smile.

"Aw, that's so sweet, it's your baby! She looks just like you Danny! But man, I look even more good-looking than I do now!"

Jacob grabbed the picture from him as he and Noelle looked at it in fascination as well.

"Alright, I think we need to go to Vlad's," Sam suggested. "As much as I enjoy this, it's a little weird. It's like those people that combine the pictures of the parents and show them what their kids would look like."

"No, we can't go yet," Danny replied, finally coming back to his senses. "Obviously Kimberly's parents are better friends with me than I thought, so they have to know something. I mean, there are pictures of us doing almost everything together."

"Danny, what am I going to ask them, 'What happened to Danny Fenton?' They'll tell me the exact same stuff they told me before."

"She does have a point," Tucker agreed.

"But you have more information now, and this picture. Play off that, ask them specific questions. It never hurts to try."

"I guess not."

"And I'll be in the room with you, invisible of course, and I'll stay in afterwards too, just incase they decide to talk about it after you've left."

"Alright."

* * *

The group waited outside the parlor while Kimberly and an invisible Danny entered. Kimberly's parents were sitting on the armchairs in font of the fireplace, her father reading a book and her mother doing needlepoint. 

"Mom, Dad, can I ask a question?"

They put down their entertainment and looked at her. "Of course dear, what do you want to ask?" her mother asked.

"Have you told me everything you know about Danny Fenton?"

"What kind of a question is that?" her father asked, looking at her curiously.

"It's just, I can't help thinking that there's more to Danny Fenton than what everyone says."

"Well dear that's the thing, there is more to them, but the thing is that nobody knows."

"But surely you guys have to know something! You were like best friends with them! You guys did everything together!"

"What makes you think that?"

"This picture," Kimberly stated as she gave them the group picture. "It's a picture of Danny with his family, his best friend, his sister, and the two of you, the month he disappeared. You and the rest of the people in this photograph know something more than what you're telling us, I can tell every time we visit his grave. Tucker and Jazz still think he's alive and the only reason they would is if they knew something no one else did."

As Kimberly described her point, her parents involvement in the disappearance became clearer, like she was putting the pieces together as she stated her case, surprised that she'd never seen the connections before.

But her parents obviously didn't care about Kimberly's speech. They were still staring transfixed at the picture.

"Wh-where did you get this?" her mother asked.

"I found it in the attic. I was bored so I went up there to look at my old toys and found it on the floor next to an old chest," Kimberly lied.

"You're not supposed to see this," her father scolded.

"I'm sorry, but that doesn't stop the fact that I did. There's more to this and you're not telling me!"

"Look, we were close friends with the Fentons and we did see them a lot and yes, we did see them the month that they disappeared as often as we did other months," her father admitted. "Did we know when that picture was taken that in a few weeks' time they'd disappear and never return? No, we had no clue. We were just a bunch of old college friends having fun together. We don't know anything else about their disappearance. Now if that's all your questions I suggest you—"

"Why do I look so much like Danny Fenton?" she asked, the question out of her mouth before she could stop it. That question had been bothering her since she first laid eyes on Danny and she had to know.

Her mother sighed. "I don't know. I never cheated on your father with him and had you if that's what you're wondering."

"No, no, of course not. It's just, we look so similar, same hair, same eyes, same face."

"We noticed it as well, and we have no clue why you look so much like Danny, but we've got the birth certificate and DNA records to prove that you are the child of your father and I. The similarity must just be a coincidence."

Kimberly nodded her head, not sure whether she believed their explanation or not, if you could even call it an explanation. Frankly, it didn't explain anything, only that she wasn't the product of an affair, which she'd never considered in the first place.

"Alright if that is finally all your questions, I think you should go back upstairs with Jacob and Noelle before they start getting bored," her father suggested, in a tone that indicated that even if she did have more questions, it would be unwise to ask them.

Kimberly headed out of the room and turned the corner where her friends were hanging out in the hallway, waiting for her report. As she informed them of what little she'd found out, she hoped that she had at least done her job. All she needed to do was get them to start talking after she'd left so Danny could collect the information, and judging by her parents' reactions, she was sure her questions had stimulated enough of a conversation.

* * *

Danny watched Kimberly leave the room and then focused his attention on the parents. Her father was walking towards the bar, pouring himself a drink while her mother was pacing in front of the fireplace, her hand on her head. 

"George, I don't like this, I don't like continuing to lie to her."

"I know, but it's necessary. We can't tell her the truth. We promised Danny we wouldn't."

Now Danny was intrigued. Promised they wouldn't tell her what? And when would they have a chance to make such a promise? His suspicions upstairs were right; they knew more than they let on.

"Yes, but when we promised him I didn't think she'd be coming to us with these types of questions!"

"Don't start getting soft Alicia. Danny's life may be at stake, if he's still alive, and we need to keep her ignorant until he comes back."

"And if he doesn't? We have to tell her sometime."

"He's coming back."

"You've been saying that for fifteen years. You're sounding just like Tucker and Jazz, full of hope and not thinking straight."

"Well, maybe I don't want to think straight."

"But unlike them we have to! For Kimberly! She can't go her whole life not knowing!"

"We just need to wait for the right time."

"I think the right time has long since passed, and you can't pretend to block it out any longer. Look at this picture, it's proof! This picture was in a locked chest in the attic! I just looked at the picture yesterday and I know for a fact that I put it back, and I have the keys around my neck! Face it George, she inherited his ghost powers, just like he said she might, and she's been hiding them from us. There's no other way she could have gotten the picture out of the locked chest."

"But what are we supposed to tell her? That she's Victoria Fenton and we're not her real parents? I don't think that'll go over too well."

"The longer we wait the worse it'll be. They always say that adopted children have a stage where they want to know about their true parents, maybe Kimberly's going through hers?"

"Yes, but those are adopted children that know they're adopted, and she doesn't, and I'd personally like to keep it that way!"

"But the longer we wait the harsher it'll be for her! We just have to tell her, and soon!"

"Alright, but tonight is not a good night, not after we just lied to her and promised her that she was our daughter, and especially not when her friends are over."

Danny stopped listening and floated in shock, staring at the burning logs in the fireplace. After he saw Kimberly go ghost he knew the possibility was very high, but he just didn't want to let himself think it. It would just be too weird, to be hanging out with someone his age who turned out to be his daughter. He just couldn't grasp his mind around the concept so he didn't and just forgot about it, Tucker and Sam as well. But now, there was no denying it. Mr. and Mrs. Jordan had just confirmed it. They weren't her parents. He, Danny Fenton, and Sam were.

He flew out the room and turned visible upon touching the floor and stared at the group, his eyes wide and his face pale, his mouth slightly open.

"What happened?" Sam asked, knowing something major had just occurred in the room. Danny could only continue to stare as he saw Kimberly, knowing that he was looking at his daughter. His throat was in knots and he couldn't find the words to speak.

"Danny? What's wrong?" Kimberly asked. The knot in Danny's throat got tighter as he heard her address him, and by his first name too. Everything was just so strange and jumbled in his mind he couldn't think straight.

"Danny?" Sam asked, now worried. "Danny, what happened? Are we really dead? Did we take too long? What's wrong?"

"Kim-Kimberly is...V-Victoria. Sh-she's our d-daughter."

* * *

A/N: I know, it's not that huge of a twist since you all probably saw it in the beginning, and let me just say once and for all that it wasn't supposed to be a shock. It's a classic example of dramatic irony where we all know that she's his daughter but the characters themselves don't...well didn't...now they do... But you know what this really means...there's going to be a lot of questions and thus, a lot of answers!

And just because this really wasn't a cliffy due to the fact that everyone kinda knew about it, I'll leave one here. The next chapter will be called "The Night of the Disappearance"

Told ya there'd be a lot of info coming...teehee...


	12. The Night of the Disappearance

A/N: Look, I'm on a roll! Another story updated this soon, it's amazing! Shows what'll happen when you have free weekends, no tests to study for, and are bolted up in your room because you lost your wallet and thus can't leave the dorm complex after seven otherwise you won't be able to get back in...

And now (again) for some shameless self-promotion, the first LDPP is posted (finally) so please check it out if you're interested!

Also, and this isn't really self-promotion, but I just wanted to let everyone know that TimStandsStill on deviantArt has drawn a wonderful picture of Kimberly (both in ghost and human form) as well as Noelle, so please check it out! It's under my favorites on my deviantArt account or you can follow this link (without the spaces) http / www . deviantart . com / deviation / 40869879 /

And again, another thank you to all my reviewers! I'm super glad to see you're enjoying this story!

Alright, lots of cool information about Danny's disappearance (hence the title) and lots of explaining, on all sides, so hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Chapter Twelve  
The Night of the Disappearance

Kimberly's face paled as everyone stared at her in shock. She fell into a nearby chair, her heart pounding heavily in her chest.

How was this possible? _She_ was Victoria Fenton? It couldn't be. She was Kimberly Elena Jordan. Her parents had the proof and had shown it to her on many occasions. This was just some big misunderstanding. It had to be. It couldn't be real.

"I-It's not possible," she breathed.

"It is. I just heard it," Danny confirmed, his eyes still wide with shock. "You're parents admitted it. They've been lying to you."

"No, that…that can't be right." They had the birth certificate, the DNA test, all the paperwork indicating that they had another child born on June 9, 2015, the year after the Fentons went missing. Her parents had the tangible proof that she was their daughter. They loved her. They'd never lie to her about something as important as this.

She tried to hold on to these thoughts, the pieces of her life, tried to take comfort in them. They were the truths of her world and they wouldn't be upset over something Danny claimed he heard.

But still, a small voice in the back of her head ate away at these stored truths, reminding her that Danny was a half ghost, and so was she. It reminded her that Danny's powers were genetic and so they'd be inherited by his offspring, which was how she could be half ghost just like him. It reminded her that she looked almost exactly identical to him. It reminded her that there were no baby pictures of her before she was two, reminded her of all the doubt she'd felt as a child and why she needed the constant reassurances that she was part of the family, reminded her of the strange connection she'd always felt to Danny Fenton.

Try as she could, she couldn't help admitting that the little voice of reason was right. It made so much more sense and it explained everything in her life. Everything seemed to fall into place and the missing holes she'd felt all her life were filled in. Suddenly her life made sense, and yet there were so many questions buzzing around in her brain, questions her parents needed to answer.

She looked over at her friends who were still in shock. In all their years of comforting her strange feelings they'd never imagined something like this would be the answer. They'd always thought that maybe her parents were just careless with the second child or Kimberly was just imagining things and was insecure because she inherited her grandparents genetics instead of her parents, but they never imagined it would be something as large as this. And yet, they too knew that it was true, just like she did. This revelation made sense of everything.

Finally she summed up her willpower and looked at Danny and Sam. They made eye contact and Kimberly knew, without a doubt, that she was their daughter. Their look confirmed her feelings. She was shocked beyond words to think that these two teens would one day be her parents. Only minutes before she had considered them friends, and now she found out they were her _parents_?

"Alright, I know this has got to be awkward, but we need to keep moving," Tucker stated, finally managing to find his voice and break the awkward tension.

"Tucker's right," Jacob agreed. "We've got to interrogate your parents. Obviously they know more about the disappearance since they ended up with…you," he finished awkwardly, looking at Kimberly.

"I know it's just…I need to…digest," Kimberly explained.

"Yeah, me too," Danny added while Sam nodded.

"Alright, this is something we're all just going to have to get over," Tucker remarked, taking charge. "Yes, she's your daughter and yes, they're your parents and I know it's got to be hard not to mention insanely awkward, but you guys have to pull yourselves together fast, otherwise you may not be alive in the future to appreciate the time you'd get to spend with her. Danny, Sam, Kimberly, we have to move on. Can't we just…try to forget it?"

"Forget it?" Sam asked in disbelief. "Tucker, you try finding out that your friend is in reality your daughter from the future and _then_ tell me how successful you are at trying to forget it."

"Probably as successful as you two were when you found out you'd be getting married in the future," Tucker replied smartly.

"That…that's not the point here," Sam argued.

"Yeah, that has nothing to do with anything," Danny agreed.

"Oh yeah, you're right, because you guys already have a secret longing to be married right now so it wasn't that huge of a shock."

"What?" the two of them asked loudly, Danny's eyes glowing while Sam stared daggers.

"Look, all I'm trying to say is that you get over things. We all got over your parents crazy obsession, we all got over you having ghost powers, we all got over the…other future that's not going to happen, we all got over the two of you getting married in the future, and now we can all get over this and just move on like nothing happened. Besides, we all thought it when we first saw her go ghost and managed to forget about it."

"What?" Kimberly asked, finally finding her voice.

"I mean, oops?" Tucker tried to correct.

"Look, when we first saw you go ghost and heard that you were born with ghost powers the thought crossed our minds that you were my daughter, since ghost powers are genetically based and thus could easily get passed to you and you would be about the right age. But we just, dismissed the fact. I mean, we didn't really have any proof…"

"But why didn't you tell me?"

"Because telling you would be like confirming it. We were trying to forget about it and believe it wasn't true. Not that it was because we wouldn't want you to be our daughter if it was true, it was just to…save the awkward feelings, which I think I just increased."

"But still…" Kimberly tried to argue but knew it was useless. They had a good reason, and she probably wouldn't have believed it then anyways. She almost didn't now, and now they had proof.

"Alright, so we need to talk to Kimberly's parents," Jacob stated, trying to change the topic. The less they talked about it, the less awkward it would be. Tucker was right, they just needed to try to move on. "How should we go about this? We know that last time it didn't work out very well and they didn't give us any answers and I don't think it would be wise for you to just go in there and demand why they didn't tell you that you were adopted. What we need is a—" Jacob started to say but was interrupted by Kimberly's parents turning the corner and facing them, both of them looking disheveled from their conversation in the parlor.

"—plan," Jacob finished lamely as the group of teens stared at the two adults.

* * *

The Jordans stared at the group, their eyes wide, not believing what they were seeing. They saw their daughter and her two friends and three other people, three people they recognized from their college years, and two of those people they never thought they'd see again. 

"H-how?" Mr. Jordan managed to stutter before his speech failed him again.

Danny sighed and took a step forward. This was one way to get the information they needed. "Look, I know, you guys are shocked to see me. That's been happening to me a lot today. I know you know who I am, and I know you know I'm Danny Phantom, so then you should understand when I say that Clockwork sent me from the past to find myself."

"B-but…" Mrs. Jordan stammered.

"But how did we end up with your daughter and her friends?" Danny finished. "Well, I fell through the roof early this morning and fell down the stairs of your house because that's where Clockwork decided I should land. They found me, figured everything out while supposedly walking me to my house, and decided to help me figure out exactly what happened to myself."

"But see, we're kinda stuck on something," Sam stated, looking intently at the Jordans "something that we think you know the answer to."

"And it has to do with the night we disappeared. We know we visited you that night. What did we tell you?"

"Ho-how do you know about that?" Mr. Jordan asked.

"Well, I was sort of spying on you after Kimberly left," Danny admitted.

"And…" Mr. Jordan asked, looking now at Kimberly.

"He…he told me…everything you said," Kimberly stated, finally looking up at her parents, tears in her eyes.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry!" Mrs. Jordan wailed as she rushed towards Kimberly and wrapped her arms around her.

"Can we…continue this in the parlor?" Mr. Jordan asked as he led them in, heading straight to the bar and pouring himself another drink. The others took spots on the couches and armchairs, Mrs. Jordan sitting next to Kimberly and holding her, trying to comfort her.

Mr. Jordan put the empty glass down, poured another one, and walked in front of the fireplace, glass in hand. He stopped in front of the fireplace and looked at everyone present. "Look, all this wasn't our idea. We did this as a favor for a very old and close friend who desperately needed our help."

"What happened?" Danny asked.

Mr. Jordan sighed. "The night of the fourteenth we heard a knock at the door, late at night. Fortunately our butler didn't hear anything else things would have been much more complicated, but Alicia and I woke up and headed to the door…"

_"Who could possibly be knocking at our door this early?" George asked as he hurried down the stairs and to the door._

_"I don't know, but from the frequency of the knocks it sounds urgent," Alicia replied._

_They reached the door and looked at the screen showing the porch, but there was no one there. George shrugged and opened the door cautiously, but still there was no one there._

_"George, it's me Danny. Let us in."_

_The Jordans stepped away from the door, waiting a few seconds before closing it. After the door shut the Fenton family turned visible, looking haggard and frightened. Danny was bleeding from many cuts and burns while Sam was clutching baby Victoria._

_"Danny, what's going on?" George asked, concerned. While he was used to seeing Danny injured, that was only during his college days. Now that the ghosts were all gone, there was no reason for him to be injured like this at all._

_"We don't have much time, but there's a ghost after us. It's minions attacked us in our house and we barely just escaped. We came here because we knew we could trust you."_

_"Of course. We've got plenty of extra rooms to hide you in."_

_"No, we don't need to be hidden. It's not safe for you. He'll still be able to find us. We're going to run from him, but we can't take Victoria with us."_

_"We need you to watch her," Sam stated. "It's too dangerous for her out there and Danny and I will be hard pressed as it is. We don't even know if we'll make it through, but we want Victoria to be safe. Please, will you care for her, treat her as your own?"_

_"But—"_

_"No buts. We've known this was coming for awhile and we knew that this was the necessary route. Please, you have to take her," Danny begged, tears falling from his eyes as Sam held her precious baby out to her new parents, tears pouring from her eyes as well._

_"Yes, yes, of course," Alicia agreed, taking the baby in her arms._

_"Danny, are you sure about this?" George asked._

_"Yeah. This needs to be done. And please, don't ask any questions. We need to leave quickly but there are some things you need to know. First, promise me that no matter what you won't tell anyone what happened here tonight, including Victoria. No one must know, for their own safety. Promise me."_

_"I promise," George replied._

_"I promise," Alicia repeated._

_"Also, you should probably know that there's a high possibility that she may inherit my ghost powers. If she does, just promise that you'll be as accepting of her as you are of me, and if you do notice anything, don't force it out of her, let her tell you when she's ready."_

_"Of course."_

_"And finally, keep Victoria hidden and when the time seems right, you have to get out of here. Go somewhere far away and don't return for a long time. And make sure you get fake papers and such for her, and change her name. No one must ever be allowed to make the connection between us. Understand?"_

_The Jordans nodded their heads, the more Danny said the more worried they felt for him. There was definitely something wrong._

_"You don't think you'll be coming back, do you?" George asked, fearing the answer._

_"Of course we will. We'll find a way to defeat him, but it's going to take awhile. But we'll be back, trust me. Until then, take care, and be there for my parents, and Jazz, and Tucker."_

_"And take lots of pictures of Victoria. I want to see her grow up when I get back," Sam requested while the Jordans nodded their heads, tears flowing from their eyes now as well._

_They all exchanged hugs, Danny and Sam giving their final farewell to their only child. Then Danny went ghost, grabbed Sam, and turned invisible, flying out of the house and into the night._

"After that we hid Victoria in our bedroom and after Danny's disappearance came to the attention of the news, which didn't take long given the state of their house, we fired all the staff, proclaiming that we were too depressed to bother with them so we could keep Victoria hidden. Then, a year later, after they were officially pronounced dead, we figured it was time to leave and fled to England where we feigned Alicia's pregnancy and pretended that she went into labor, getting fake certificates for Victoria, who we then named Kimberly."

The room was silent, everyone's faces streaked with tears from the story.

"So, this whole time, I've been adopted?" Kimberly asked as the woman she thought was her mother cradled her in her arms. Her real mother sat across the room from her, and was the same age.

"We're so sorry about this Kimberly" the man she knew as her father apologized. "We wanted to tell you, believe me, but your life and Danny's life were at stake, and we knew we couldn't. If Danny told you everything he overheard in here, you'll know that we've been constantly fighting with ourselves over whether to tell you or not."

"I know, it's just…hard," Kimberly replied.

"But you know this doesn't mean that we love you any less, right? We always have and always will consider you our daughter," her mother comforted.

Kimberly only nodded her head in response, snuggling closer to her mother.

"Look, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just need to know if I ever wrote you a letter, mostly likely from the year we disappeared," Danny stated.

"No, we never received anything," Mr. Jordan replied "save the late night visit of course. Why do you ask?"

"We found a note in my house written to my parents and found more from Lancer and Valerie. They all contain hidden clues as to what happened."

"What have you found out?"

"Not much actually," Sam answered. "Just a lot of clues that really don't make sense, and a name of the ghost responsible."

"What is it?" Mr. Jordan asked, wanting to know the name of the ghost that caused his friend so much pain.

"Manipulator," Danny answered. "Ring any bells?" They shook their heads. "Didn't think so. Valerie hadn't heard of him either."

"We were just on our way to Wisconsin, to see if Mr. Masters knows anything," Kimberly finally spoke up meekly.

"You know about Vlad too?" Mrs. Jordan asked her daughter.

"I told 'em," Danny explained.

"He won't like that."

"Eh, he never does."

"Yeah, but you guys have a truce."

"You mean an official one? Wow, he finally got around to it. But fortunately for me, it technically doesn't count since in my timeframe, we don't have one."

"What happened to Vlad?" Sam asked. "Kimberly told us he's still around, but that Plasmius was defeated."

"Well, in a sense, that is true," Mr. Jordan answered, filling up his once again empty glass at the bar. "Vlad just got old, and while Plasmius was still powerful, Vlad was just tired. He just decided to retire from the ghost business, having come to terms that he'd never be able to marry your mother or harm your father or have you as an apprentice. So he just stays at home in Wisconsin minding his own business now."

"Wow, that's just…weird."

"How did Vlad agree to the story that Plasmius was 'defeated'?" Danny asked.

"He didn't," the both answered.

"You did it without his permission, but he'd already agreed to retire, so there was really nothing he could do about it," Mr. Jordan elaborated.

"So you're going to Wisconsin?"

"Yeah."

"When do you think you're going?"

"We were, um, actually leaving tonight," Kimberly replied.

"Wait, we?" Mr. Jordan asked as he stopped pacing in front of the fireplace, staring at them.

"Oh, um yeah, we were going to kinda…sneak out of the house," she explained nervously.

"You were going to sneak out and fly off to Wisconsin?"

"Umm…yes?"

He turned to face Jacob and Noelle. "And your parents think you're sleeping over here when in reality you're heading to Wisconsin?"

"Of course. They never would have let us come over if they knew that's what we were doing," Jacob answered, wincing as Noelle stepped on his foot.

"I don't like this."

"Father, please," Kimberly begged, standing up.

"If something happens to them their parents are going to leave us responsible."

"Then pretend you don't know about it. You've lied for Danny before, what makes this time any different?"

"Because this time I'm basically agreeing to letting you and your friends enter into danger!"

"We're just going to Wisconsin, it's not like we're going to be in much trouble doing that," Kimberly retorted. They were making too big of a deal out of this. They needed to go to Wisconsin, why couldn't they see that?

"And then what after Wisconsin? Eventually the clues will lead you to the ghost responsible, and if Danny couldn't even handle him I'm not going to let you get anywhere near him."

"I don't care. We're going."

"It's too dangerous Kimberly," Mrs. Jordan begged, standing and putting her arms around Kimberly, who simply wriggled out and walked towards Danny.

"Again, I don't care."

"What're you going to do, fight the ghost with him?" Mr. Jordan asked.

"If I have to, then yes! He's my father, I've got to help him!" she answered resolutely, her voice slipping into a British accent as her eyes flashing green. "That Clockwork guy, he sent Danny into our house for a reason, so he could meet me, because he knew I'd be able to help."

"Sweetheart, there's nothing you'd be able to do, even if you did happen to inherit some of his ghost powers."

"Some of? No, I got all of them," she responded as she went ghost, her parents looking shocked as their suspicions were confirmed.

"Ho-how long?" Mrs. Jordan asked.

"As long as I can remember. Sylvia even remembers seeing me fall through the cradle a few times. The point is I've had fifteen years of-"

"Sixteen," Mr. Jordan interrupted.

"What?"

"Sixteen. You're actually…a year older."

"Oh, wonderful. Fine, then I've had sixteen years of practice. The point is, I can help, and I want to help, and honestly, there's nothing you can really do to stop me. My friends and I are going to Wisconsin with Danny, Sam, and Tucker and nothing you say will change my mind."

Mrs. Jordan walked over to the fireplace, resting her elbow on the mantle, her hand on her head while Mr. Jordan poured himself his fifth drink of the night. Kimberly remained staring at them, not faltering in her gaze. She wanted to go, she had to go, for Danny.

"Look, Mr. Jordan, if it makes you feel better, I promise she won't get involved with the ghost," Danny promised.

"What?" Kimberly asked in outrage, looking at Danny like he'd betrayed her.

"I'd like your help," Danny added "but if your…parents…won't let you go because they're scared, I'd rather you not fight than not be able to go at all. I really could use your help piecing everything together."

"No, no, she's right," Mr. Jordan gave in. "You'll need all the help you can get, and it wouldn't be right to leave her out. She's just like you, full of spirit and energy and with a slight hero complex to boot. Besides, if Clockwork did drop you in here, it is because you're going to need her help, and after all this time, I've learned to trust him."

Kimberly's face lit up as she ran over and hugged her mom and dad. "Thank you Father, Mother!"

"Your welcome dear," he replied. "Well, Wisconsin's a long ways away, and you three should probably head out.

"And don't worry, I'll find some way to cover for the two of you in case you're not back soon," Mrs. Jordan assured to Jacob and Noelle.

"We'll be expecting you back here soon, and with two additional people in tow."

"Don't worry, we will," Danny promised, nodding his head in farewell as he went ghost, grabbing Tucker and Sam and flying through the roof. Kimberly gave her parents a final nod farewell before grabbing her two friends and flying out the roof as well, towards Wisconsin and hopefully towards more answers.

* * *

A/N: Woot for more information! Vlad's up next! I've been looking forward to this chapter for awhile... 

And...I gotta go...I've got five minutes to get to class...


	13. The Retired Enemy

A/N: So, talk about a comedy of errors... So, had to wait for ASU, like always, so you shouldn't really be surprised. Then I started having _way_ too much fun between Danny and Vlad...that's why this chapter is seventeen pages...I was having a lot of fun this chapter. Hey, there's a reason I've been looking forward to it for a long time. There's also a lot of information, which helps. So of course it took it's fair share of time to write, insane tests, Thanksgiving weekend, and working Black Friday aside. And then, if that wasn't enough, my document manager wouldn't work. They fixed the messaging system, just to break the document manager...(sigh) But it's working now, and that's all that matters!

So here it is, in its long awaited glory, the Vlad chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Chapter Thirteen  
The Retired Enemy

"Did I tell you my theory on how telekinesis can be possible?"

"Why do I have a feeling you're going to tell us anyways?" Noelle asked while Kimberly smiled. The flight to Wisconsin was extremely long and boring and after only an hour the question "Are we there yet?" was already plaguing all their minds.

Jacob, however, was having the time of his life, having found a captive audience in Tucker, and on occasion Danny, for his elaborate and rather eccentric theories on the world around them.

"No, how?" Tucker asked, enraptured.

"It's all about energy," Jacob replied. "You know that every stationary object has potential energy, right?" Tucker nodded. "And that potential energy is the energy stored away to do work and when the object moves, it's potential energy is converting to kinetic energy?" Another nod. "So, if you were able to find a way to convert potential energy to kinetic energy inside an object, that object would then move on it's own and thus, telekinesis."

"Wow, that amazingly makes so much sense!"

"Doesn't it?"

"How do you think of these things?"

"He has no life," Noelle answered, Jacob hitting her playfully.

"And how do you plan on actually doing this?" Danny asked.

"I don't know, but I'm sure with the way technology's advancing it wouldn't be too hard to figure out. A few more physics classes perhaps."

"And when exactly are you going to research and develop this?" Tucker asked. "Before or after proving that pizza stimulates you brain?"

"Umm…after. This'll probably take longer."

"I've got an easier method," Sam suggested. "How about you just wait for Danny or Kimberly to develop it, since it's like the one power they don't have."

"And with my luck, probably the only one I'll never get," Danny moaned.

"Well, you can always ask your older self when we find him," Sam joked. "Although I'm looking forward to seeing if you're still clueless."

"I am not—"

"Well, we already know the answer to that," Tucker interrupted. "I mean, you two did finally end up getting married."

"Wait, what?" Danny asked, confusion coloring his face.

"Clueless," Sam responded.

"Yeah, well how about we ask your older self how it felt to be pregnant?" Danny joked back, Sam giving him an evil glare.

"Should I get started on the hero complex?" Sam asked, mocking innocence.

"Don't make me drop you."

"You wouldn't drop me. What would happen to poor Kimberly if I died? Your hero complex wouldn't allow it."

Danny glared at her but finally gave up, instead focusing intently on flying while Sam's face radiated triumph.

"So, ever wonder how super powers work?" Jacob asked, breaking the awkward silence between the two.

"Actually, yeah," Tucker admitted.

"Me too, so I started thinking about them and I finally figured out that super powers are just chemical reactions. See, if a person has the ability to create water, in reality, that person is just taking the surrounding hydrogen and oxygen, mixing them together in a chemical reaction, and that makes water. Now, it still doesn't explain how they're able to create the reaction in the first place—"

"Or how any other super power works by that theory," Noelle pointed out.

"Hey, those are ones I just haven't figured out yet. I mean, an ecto-blast is probably created with the same chemical reactions that are used to create the blast from an ecto-gun, except the ghost has the ability to create the reaction that the gun mechanics normally have to trigger."

"It still doesn't explain—" Noelle began to contradict but she was cut off by a loud scream as Sam started falling from the sky.

"Oh dear, my arm seems to have unintentionally turned intangible," Danny mocked sarcastically. "And now poor Sam is falling to her death. I guess I'd better save her."

The white rings formed around both him and Tucker as they teleported, reappearing below Sam. He placed his arm out and caught her, teleporting the three of them back up above the clouds with the others.

"Danny, while that was really cool, never _ever_ teleport me again," Tucker requested. "Are the clouds supposed to be spinning around us?"

"Sorry Sam," Danny apologized as he smiled mischievously. "My arm just went—"

"Shut up. I am so going to kill you."

"Now Sam, what would happen to poor Kimberly if I died?" he mocked with a smile as she punched his arm.

For the next half hour they continued to joke around with each other, especially Sam and Danny, who seemed bent on one-upping the other. Finally the four passengers drifted off into sleep while Danny and Kimberly continued to fly on without stopping, since as ghosts they really had no need to sleep. They mostly flew in silence, not really knowing what to say to each other, and both of them mostly wrapped up in their own thoughts: Danny on straightening out the clues and Kimberly on realizing that throughout her whole life she'd been adopted.

She kept going back over all her memories, realizing all the lies and half-truths she'd been subjected to, realizing all the clues, realizing all the comforts and confirmations that didn't really exist. But the more memories she combed through the more she realized how much her parents really loved her. She knew they were right, that all the lies and deceit was for her own good and safety, as well as Danny's, and she could tell how much it had hurt them to lie to her. But they still did, never fazing, never giving in, always determined to keep her and her real parents safe, no matter what, all the while loving her as their own. That took true dedication and love, and no matter whether they were her real parents or not, they loved her, and she loved them too.

"Hey Kimberly?" Danny asked, interrupting her from her thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"Sorry, did I interrupt you?"

"Kinda, but I could use an interruption," she answered with a smile. "You?"

"Yeah. My head's starting to hurt."

She smiled in sympathy. "So, what'd you want to ask me?"

"Well, I was just remembering, after Skultech attacked, you said you refused to help fight the ghost, which I respected, but now, back at your parents' house, you said you wanted to. I just wanted to know…"

"What changed my mind?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's not that I don't appreciate the help, but I was just curious."

"I don't really know, honestly. I've actually been thinking about that for awhile. I mean, it just seemed right, helping you. I just kept wondering why I refused before, and I think it was because I was scared. But, being scared isn't really that good of a reason not to help, especially when you sure could use it. And then there was Clockwork, who sounds like the kind of guy who doesn't do stuff randomly and while we'd decided that you landed in my house so we could help you get information, I think there's a lot more to it than that, and you being my…father…I think really enforces that. I mean, it kinda sounds like destiny, you and me helping each other save you. It just has a certain ring to it, and it's fitting. I think that's why I agreed, because it's destiny for me to help you."

"You know, Clockwork said that we were sent to this specific time for a reason and not earlier or later, and I think I just figured out why. It was because of you. We need to fight together to conquer this ghost."

"You know, I don't think I'd really have it any other way," she replied with a smile.

"Me neither."

* * *

"Alright, plan of attack: get in, get the letter, analyze and ask questions quickly, and then get out. The less time we spend with Vlad, the better," Danny instructed everyone as the landed outside Vlad's Wisconsin mansion.

"I have no argument with that whatsoever," Sam agreed. Kimberly and her friends nodded their heads, though really not understanding the reasoning. There was obviously some deep seated rivalry between the two of them, but still, if it was really so bad between them he wouldn't have trusted him with a note in the first place.

They walked up to the door, Danny taking a deep breath before grabbing the cheese-head knocker and slamming it against the large doors a few times, the loud knock heard echoing through the cavernous entryway.

A few minutes later the door opened, showing a very surprised and much older looking Vlad.

"D-Daniel? My God, it is you. I was wondering when you would come. Clockwork sent you I assume."

"How did you…"

"Please Daniel, don't insult me. I am not completely idiotic."

"Well, could have fooled me."

Vlad narrowed his eyes in annoyance before turning his attention to the rest of the group at his doorway. "Ah, Ms. Jordan. Fancy seeing you here, with him."

"Vlad, don't start trying to sound all cryptic and smart. We already know Kimberly's Victoria."

Vlad's eyes widened slightly. "Really? You actually figured something out that was sitting in plain sight? Good boy. And here I thought you didn't learn that until the two of you started dating."

"Wow Vlad, that's hilarious," Danny replied blandly.

"You knew?" Kimberly asked. She could count on one hand the number of times she'd seen the billionaire, and yet he knew something about her life that she didn't figure out for sixteen years.

"Of course I knew. You look exactly like him. The first time I saw you I knew. Plus, it just seemed like something the ever noble Danny Fenton would do. And I believe there's a hero complex crack needed here somewhere…"

"Again Vlad, you're hilarious."

"I know. And who are the other two? Your posse no doubt. Ah, like father like daughter... Now, shall we step inside? The thing we need to discuss is not a suitable topic for the front porch."

"How do you know what we want to talk about?" Danny asked, stepping inside. He hated how Vlad always seemed on top of things.

The rest of the group followed him inside, Vlad looking outside before closing the door, striding ahead to walk even with Danny. "Oh please Daniel, you don't travel through time just to chat about the weather with me of all people. Clockwork sent you here to rescue yourself and you're here to find out if I know anything about your disappearance. I've been waiting for you to show up ever since I got your letter."

"So I did send you a letter. How'd you know it was important?"

"You think you're the only one clever enough to send coded messages? I'm a businessman Daniel, _every_ message I send is encrypted. So you don't quite receive points for originality, though I must say sending me many false letters did boost your score a little, but what you really excelled in was creativity. Anyone who wanted to expunge the clues from the letter would have to know you and your friends very well, which is another clue that led me to know that you'd be coming to decipher this letter. You didn't send the note for me to figure it out and save you, you just wanted me to take care of a piece of the information until your past self came, as I knew you would. Clockwork has always bent the rules for you."

"Guess that's what comes from being good huh?"

"No, that's what comes from having a horrible future that needs to be stopped. Yes, I did find out about it," he replied after seeing Danny's evil and yet surprised glare. "Again, you give me no credit."

He led them into the study, heading over to a wall where he reached his intangible hands through the wall and pulled out a safe, hiding the screen from the others while he typed in the password.

"Vlad, there's no need to hide it, we all know it's Maddie Masters."

"What?" he asked, turning around, the safe open. "That's preposterous. That was last year's password…"

"Oh, sorry, and what's this years? RIP Jack or any other such euphemism?"

Vlad blushed. "No, that was the password a long time ago. After they disappeared it just…it just didn't seem appropriate."

"Fine, whatever. Where's the letter?"

Vlad closed the safe, turning around with the letter in his hands, handing it to Danny. He opened it and cleared his throat, preparing to read it aloud.

_July 27, 2014_

_Vlad,_

_Hey, how's retirement? Sorry, had to ask. You can't expect me to let that one go anytime soon, if ever. Trust me, you're never going to live it down. But in my defense, you'd do the same thing to me. Think of it this way, now you have all the time in the world to watch Lord of the Rings, or fruit loop commercials…_

_Speaking of which, how is Fruit Loop? Hope you haven't killed her yet. I know you weren't happy when you got her, but hey, you're retired, so I figured you'd need someone to keep you company. But come on, isn't it fun having a cat around? Admit it, you like her. She's probably a spoiled cheese heiress._

Danny stopped reading and lowered the letter, his eyes glimmering with satisfaction and amusement. "You have a cat? You actually have a cat?" Danny laughed, Tucker and Sam joining in.

"May I remind you that it says in that letter that you bought her for me," Vlad remarked sourly. "I never bought her."

"'Her'?" Sam asked. "I thought you'd call her an 'it'. Is Vwad attached to the widdle kitty?"

"I never said that," he defended adamantly.

"You aren't saying you didn't," Danny teased.

"Just because I refer to her by her proper gender based pronoun does not mean I like her."

"Sure it does, it means you see her as more than a creature, because otherwise you would call her 'it'," Sam argued.

"I refer to the Box Ghost as a 'he'," Vlad defended.

"Wow Vlad, I never knew. The Lunch Lady must be jealous," Danny teased with a smirk while Kimberly and her friends tried to choke back a laugh. Vlad glared at him, clearly not amused.

"I want to see her," Danny stated, standing up.

"What?" Vlad asked, his eyes shifting nervously.

"What about the letter?" Jacob asked, his curiosity unsatisfied.

"Yes, what about that letter?" Vlad repeated.

"Eh, it'll be here after I go looking for Fruit Loop…God I love that name."

"Whatever happened to get in, get info, get out?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah…I forgot to tell you that the plan could be interrupted at any time by annoying Vlad."

Vlad sighed. "She's just a cat, what's the big deal?"

"The deal is that she's _your_ cat, the cat you swore never to get. And she's named Fruit Loop, that's reason enough."

He smiled as he turned intangible and flew through the wall, searching through the house. Vlad leaned back in his chair, putting his hand on his head while Tucker and Sam smiled at the three friends.

"My God I'm going to kill that boy," Vlad groaned.

Tucker shook his head. "Tsk tsk Vlad, you're retired remember?"

"Don't remind me."

Kimberly smiled. The two of them didn't seem like archenemies, and he certainly didn't seem to be as bad as Danny was making him out to be. The two of them seemed to have an unspoken relationship. Just the way they talked to each other, insulted each other so casually and even at times expected the insults, throwing their own back with such ease, it looked like they had a lot of practice, even in Danny's period. There was an underlying bond present between them that they refused to recognize or just chose to ignore. She could see it the moment Vlad opened the door, his face as he saw Danny after all these years. He may have said he was expecting him, but he was still just as shocked and pleased to see him as everyone else.

Danny floated into the study, a fluffy white cat in his arms, stroking her head. "Everybody, meat Fruit Loop, the spoiled heiress of the Masters fortune."

Tucker and Sam laughed as they rushed over, getting a good look at the kitty Vlad had finally succumbed to getting, whether Danny bought her for him or not.

"Alright, I've gotta know since being out of the inside joke loop is killing me," Jacob stated. "What's the big deal with the kitty? And what's with Fruit Loop?"

"Vlad's a fruit loop," Danny, Tucker, and Sam answered as one.

"I am not a fruit loop!" Vlad defended for what had, by then, become the hundredth time.

"You are so one seriously crazed up fruit loop. Always have been, always will be."

Vlad sighed. "I've long since given up arguing with you."

"Because you know I'm right."

"No, because you're too stubborn to see reason otherwise."

"Exactly, because I'm right."

Vlad groaned, closing his eyes as he started massaging his temples.

"And the cat?"

"Vlad's always been after my mom since he lost her to my dad in their college days, so after another failed attempt I suggested to either try internet dating or to get a cat to end his loneliness, and he didn't like either option."

"Of course not. I wasn't lonely," Vlad defended.

"Sure, whatever Vlad. Anyways, he swore never to get a cat, and here one is. And it's not like you don't like her either. She's got her own room to herself and has three of those huge cat playground things as well as her own television, a bunch of catnip and food, as well as plenty of Packers themed cushions and beds. I particularly liked the cheese head one."

"Can we move on please?" Vlad asked, losing his tolerance.

"Oh, is Vlad's big pride hurt by finally admitting that he likes having a cat?" he mocked.

"No, I just think there are better ways to spend your time, like finishing the analysis of that letter."

Danny sighed, remembering Clockwork's warning about getting distracted. "Fine." He put the cat down, letting it slink out the door and back to her abode. He picked up the letter again and began where he left off.

_So, heard about the Packers. If you ask me, and you're probably going to kill me for this later, but their glory days are done. They've been done for a long time. Once Favre left, it all went downhill. I know, you don't think so, but you're biased, so your opinion doesn't count. You should just admit defeat. They're done for._

_Hey, have you heard of this guy Manipulator? My parents were talking about him at dinner the other night. They claimed that he was some mythic ghost of legend, but I don't remember ever hearing anything about him. But that doesn't really mean much, since I hadn't heard about Pariah Dark or the Fright Knight until they attacked. So I was wondering, since you've been in this business longer than I have, whether you've heard of him or not? Better yet, does he even exist? Well, regardless, the story was pretty interesting. You should ask my parents about it sometime. I'm sure you won't object to that…_

_So I came across an interesting realization regarding the Ecto-Skeleton the other day. I realized that blowing it up was probably not the best idea, but then again it wasn't really my idea in the first place. If we were really smart, we would have just stolen it instead of blowing it up because then we'd be able to use it. My parents never were able to build one again or even get close to it again and I know you've never been able to get close to it, since you would have built one already. It must've been a one-hit wonder, sort of like the Ghost Portal. Well, I guess that's what happens when two teenagers try to make decisions. In retrospect, it was really stupid._

_Well, I probably shouldn't waste any more of your "precious" time with this letter, you've probably got fruit loops to eat, a cat to spoil, and other fun retirement things. Personally, I think you're going to go crazy from all your free time, if you haven't already…but that's just me._

_Well, I'll talk to you later. Well, more like write to you later, since you're a lot more agreeable when writing back and forth than in person or by phone._

_Danny_

"Alright, let's do this," Jacob stated as they dived into the analysis, Vlad leaving to grab some tea with lemon.

"Tea?" Danny asked as he saw Vlad walk back in, their analysis complete. "C'mon Vlad, can't you be like normal people?"

"Daniel, you've spent enough time here to know that I never drink anything but tea."

"Yeah, you always were old school."

Vlad narrowed his eyes. "So, I believe you have some questions for me?"

"Alright, first paragraph is just a greeting and nothing more," Jacob informed them. "Just you taking any opportunity you can to make fun of him."

"Same with the second one," Noelle agreed. "Another inside joke between the two of you."

"And unless Brett Favre has something to do with your disappearance I'd say it's the same with the third," Sam added. "Honestly Danny, this letter's really boring. You spend three paragraphs just talking to him."

Vlad sighed. "And here I thought the six of you were doing so well with this mystery. Isn't it obvious what the point of this is? It's to make it sound conversational and casual so that you can drop the bombshells later on. If you're trying to hide information from this Manipulator mentioning his name is going to be a big sign that this letter is coded, so you threw in as many different references as you could, and only ones that the three of you and myself considered as inside jokes. This Manipulator wouldn't know about the cat comment, or my rather unfairly given nickname, or what the reference to the Packers means, and thus they would assume, just like the rest of the references, that they were important, and thus would be sent on a wild goose chase while you followed the correct one."

"So basically they're a bunch of red herrings," Jacob summarized.

"Precisely."

"See Vlad, that's the way you need to talk, nice and succinct, none of this long winded blathering that could be summed up in two words."

"Well, I was unsure whether you, in your limited knowledge knew what a red herring was. After all, you did fail that English test."

Danny sighed. "I'm just going to forget you not only continued looking at my grades but that you remembered them as well and just move on. What do you know about Manipulator? Valerie had never heard of him and frankly neither have I."

"You wouldn't have. He's not a very common name in the Ghost Zone. Took me years to get the whole story and sort through the myth to find the truth."

"Wait, you looked for him?" Sam asked.

"Why must I keep reminding you that I'm not ignorant? Despite what you all may believe, I know a clue when I see one, and that note was just one big decoded clue. I received many letters, possibly to make it look less suspicious when you sent this one, but the rest were just gibberish, no real value to them, but this one was different, only slightly, but I could tell. When Daniel 'casually' mentioned Manipulator, I knew to look him up. After I heard that he'd disappeared, I knew it had something to do with this Manipulator, but I wasn't fit enough to go up against a ghost of his caliber."

"Of his caliber?"

"Yes. If you would like a comparison, it would probably be fair to compare him to your alternate future self or Clockwork without the cheat of being able to stop time and slice you in half without being able to retaliate."

"But how do you know?" Kimberly asked. The comparisons to her didn't really make sense, but seeing the looks on Danny, Tucker, and Sam's faces was enough to convince her that this ghost was definitely powerful.

"Because he'd have to be of that caliber to kidnap and keep Daniel hostage for fifteen years. I have to say that you grow up to be immensely powerful, more so than your alternate future self I must say, though of course still ever the righteous superhero. This ghost would have to be immensely powerful as well to be able to hold you, though I'm sure his ability helps."

"His ability?" Danny asked.

Vlad held his hand up. "I think I've gotten ahead of myself. I need to start at the beginning…

"The Legend of Manipulator, for as of right now there's no proof to suggest this is anything other than a legend, takes us back to the glory days of Ancient Greece. There were two extremely intelligent brothers that aspired to find the key to immortality like the gods they worshipped, the first alchemists of their time. They researched many different methods to obtain the immortality they sought, looking into everything from chemistry to religion to, as fate would have it, ghosts and spirits. It was said that they had gotten fairly close to their goal and they obtained great renown through all of Greece.

"But it wasn't just their work that made them famous, but the strange abilities they had been gifted with. The older was said to have visions of the future while the younger could control people's thoughts and actions. How they obtained these abilities is uncertain and, as in most legends, there are many different accounts. Some say Zeus, the Lord of the Grecian Pantheon, cursed them for trying to obtain what was not theirs to have (for their powers did end up being a curse), while others thought they obtained them as a side effect of an experiment gone wrong, while others still argue they were simply born with them. Whatever the reason, their knowledge and power made them powerful men in Greece and that kind of power will do things to you when tragedy comes.

"And, of course, tragedy did strike, as it usually does. As the newly elected king toured through the state, he stopped off at the brothers' home, knowing it would be foolish not to charm such influential men. Unfortunately, that's as far as his intelligence went, for while at their house, his eyes fell upon the younger brother's wife. Well, I'm sure you know where this goes. A few nights later, while the two brothers were busy working, the king's army took the wife and made her as his own. When the younger brother found out, he became furious, wanting not only his wife back, but revenge as well. He wanted to use his power to murder the king.

"The older brother advised against it, telling him that he foresaw a bad outcome of his actions, but he would no longer listen, too enveloped in his rage and yearning for revenge. He had changed, and the two brothers, always so close, were torn apart by the rift.

"The younger left to plan his onslaught, traveling from town to town, using his power to control the minds of the men, creating an army. His brother, meanwhile, went to the king, hoping to stop the terrible future he had seen. He told him of the wrath his actions had incurred in his brother, advising him to return to girl to his brother, but still the idiotic king refused, even after being warned of the incoming army. Knowing he had failed his brother and the lives of many, the older brother left in dejection, giving one final warning to the king, telling him that under no circumstances was his brother to die, for the consequences would be too great and terrible to handle.

"The day of the battle arrived, and the younger brother's army marched on the doors of the palace, confronting the army of the king. The battle did not go well with many innocent men dieing without even realizing they were fighting since they were under the control of the brother. But as the battle raged on, the attacker held the advantage, for every time he lost a man, he simply controlled another one of the soldiers to take his place. Finally, in a last ditch effort, a sharp shooter pierced the shoulder of the brother, not killing him, but severely wounding him, causing him to lose his control of his army. Now free, they quickly disbanded while the brother was imprisoned in solitude, receiving his food by animal, having no human contact.

"And there he stayed for many years while his rage grew stronger and out of frustration, he committed suicide. But, his rage and unrequited revenge turned him into a ghost and the vision his older brother had seen came true. His power increased, as did his rage. Revenge and ultimate power became his ghostly obsessions, fueled by the rage that is created inside a ghost when it is formed. He remembered and cared for nothing, only to have the ultimate revenge against the king that had wronged him. He murdered the king and all the people in the court, including his wife, whom he no longer cared for, having no other emotion save rage and revenge.

"But after everything, his rage remained unfulfilled and instead decided, as most ghosts do, to take over the world, starting with Greece. His brother heard of what happened and felt responsible, knowing that if he had somehow managed to convince the king to give up the wife years ago none of this would have happened.

"He gathered together a group of mystics, using his knowledge of the afterlife and immortality to devise a way to stop the ghost of his brother by imprisoning him in a mystical amulet of great power while outside the ghost, who now referred to himself as Manipulator, reeked havoc on the surrounding towns. Finally, their plan set, they cornered the dead brother and a great battle ensued while the mystics uttered the spell to trap the ghost. As the battle drew to an end, Manipulator killed his brother just before he was sucked into the amulet.

"As the older brother lay dying, he made one final prophecy, supposedly detailing the return of his brother and the way to destroy him, for good. The mystics wrote down this prophecy and hid both the amulet and the prophecy, each in a different location. Supposedly they're both still safely hidden, though I beg to differ, on the grounds that you wouldn't have known about such a tale to make a reference to him. Somehow, he broke free from the amulet and is back, as the prophecy foretold and for some reason or another wants Daniel and Sam.

"So, if indeed you are hastening after Daniel and Sam, I suggest you find this prophecy first, because if it indeed details the weakness of this amazingly powerful ghost, it'll be absolutely crucial to your success, and I highly doubt you can do it yourself."

The six of them stared in disbelief as Vlad finished the tale, no one really knowing what to say to follow such a statement.

"Why can't it ever be easy?" Tucker asked, finally breaking the silence, making Vlad chuckle.

"My dear boy if it was that sample do you even think that Daniel and Sam would have been kidnapped in the first place and remain imprisoned?" Vlad responded.

"No, but I can hope can't I?"

"So if…my dad…couldn't fight him, how can we?" Kimberly asked.

"I'd have to agree with her," Jacob replied.

Vlad sighed. "If only it had always been so easy to rid you of hope. Were you not listening to anything I said? The prophecy foretells of his demise. By finding this prophecy you'll find the way in which to destroy him."

"But how do we find this prophecy?" Danny asked.

"Now there I'm afraid I cannot help you, but I advise you to continue on in your current vein, trust your older self and trust the clues he has left for you."

"You think he found it don't you?" Sam asked. "Found the prophecy?"

"Oh I have no doubt of it."

"Then why didn't I act upon it?" Danny asked. "If I found it and I knew what was going on I would have destroyed him."

"Yes, but this is the sixteen year old Daniel talking, the Daniel that has no skill or tact. Your future self has had years of experience on you. Besides, hasn't the thought even crossed your mind that maybe you are in some way important?"

"What?"

"The reason Clockwork sent you here in the first place? Yes I know he told you it's because you needed to save yourself, but did you ever think that maybe the reason he was kidnapped in the first place was because you were necessary to fulfill the prophecy? It would explain why he left all these clues which are clearly intended for you and your friends. He needs you to fulfill the prophecy. What that entails, I can only imagine, but I'm sure he's leading you towards it. I know you Daniel, and you'd never let anyone down, especially yourself. All the information you need are inside these letters."

"Well then, let's get back to them, shall we?" Jacob stated with an enthusiastic smile. The mystery was starting to pick up, and he liked nothing better than a good mystery.

Kimberly looked back at her paragraph and recalled the important information. "What's this Ecto-Skeleton you're talking about?"

"It was—" Vlad began.

"It's an invention my parents built and one Vlad was never able to duplicate because they're smarter than he is."

Vlad scoffed. "In all fairness they were never able to duplicate it either."

"Yeah, but they at least built it in the first place. You were never even able to do that."

Vlad sighed. "Yes, very well, I was never able to duplicate it because I'm not as smart as your parents, can we get on with this?"

"So, what's the point of this suit? I mean, it's destroyed, so we can't quite possibly use it," Noelle stated.

"It's not the suit," Danny clarified.

"Then what is it?"

"Jazz," Vlad and Danny answered simultaneously, Danny casting him an evil glare before continuing on with the explanation. "She's the one who was in the ecto-suit when Vlad had it and was the one that helped me blow it up, in your face too," he teased.

"Yes it was absolutely disastrous since I just turned intangible to avoid it," Vlad remarked sarcastically.

"No, but I left a nice hole in the middle of your football field," Danny bragged proudly.

"Which was easily fixed," Vlad replied, irritated. "Moving on?"

"So we're supposed to go visit Jazz next?" Kimberly asked.

"Definitely. It's high time we visited her," Danny stated, a hint of excitement in his voice to finally see the older version of his sister. "So Tucker, last paragraph."

He sighed. "Nothing. See, why didn't you take over this paragraph like you did last time? At least this one had nothing important in it."

"Because it's our goal in life to torture you," Sam joked.

"I thought it was to torture Vlad."

"That's my goal," Danny clarified with a proud smirk, Vlad rolling his eyes.

"Well, as fun as it is to be insulted at every turn of the conversation, I believe you have a necessary appointment in Chicago with a certain Jazmine Fenton?" Vlad stated as he stood.

"Aw Vlad, you're kicking us out already?" Danny asked in mock disappointment.

Vlad crossed his arms. "I thought you were anxious to leave?"

"That's before I found out how fun you are to make fun of in this time frame."

"Danny, Mr. Masters is unfortunately right," Kimberly reminded him. "We do probably need to get going. The sooner we figure all this out the better."

"Yeah I know," he agreed as he too stood up, everyone else following.

Vlad lead them out the door, but before Danny could walk out he placed his hand on his shoulder. "Daniel, just one final word of advice. You cannot take Tucker and Sam with you to fight Manipulator, you realize this yes?"

He nodded slowly, having come to that revelation during the tale of their enemy.

"Good. I know you never do anything without 'Team Phantom' but for their safety and your success, you cannot take them. Keep that in mind."

"I will. And Vlad, thank you, for everything."

"My pleasure. And now, farewell, and do not leave me out of the loop and let me know when you return."

Danny nodded as he started walking down the steps, waving to Vlad before going ghost and picking up Tucker and Sam, Kimberly doing the same with her friends as they took off, heading for Chicago.

* * *

A/N: Holy information deluge Batman! And now, the villain has been revealed! Woot! Sure, it didn't hold out as long as ASU, but hey, thirteen chapters, that's pretty good...and we still haven't met him yet... Be expecting a drawing coming in the near future on my deviantArt account, hopefully... And if you have any questions, I'll answer them to the best of my ability, but I won't give anything away. Oh, and as for the Legend of Manipulator...I know it's slightly cliche, but that's the way things were and that's frankly the way myths become, so believe me, it was meant to be that way.

Alright, I'm out to catch a few hours of sleep...hope you enjoyed it!


	14. The Desolate Sister

A/N: Wow, over a year later and one's finally going up! w00t! I really cannot even begin to apologize for the wait, so really I'm not going to try, especially since I know you'd just rather get to the update than to bother with me prattling on apologies that I shouldn't even be allowed to give, let alone even think about being forgiven, so I'm just not going to waste anyone's time and bother.

So, beware of excessive amounts of information being thrown at you in this chapter, which is why it's so long. You get _two_ letters this time, aren't you lucky? That's one reason why it took so long since it's 19 pages in a Word doc, that and every time I went to go work on it I had to basically reread everything I'd already written to remember what other information I was going to hand out...

And for those of you that don't know or care since I saw you...last year. School sucks, o-chem, biochem, genetics, physics, and genetic engineering are hard subjects, especially when most of them are taken in one semester, and taking three lab sciences in college leaves you no time to do anything besides writing ten plus page lab reports three times weekly (and for one of my lab reports, a _thirty_ page lab report). Thirty pages! My chapters aren't even that long! (faints)

Oh, and sorry for the poor quality. I haven't had the chance to read over it yet (leaving tomorrow and all) and I did write this with long gaps in between a lot of it so it may seem a little disjointed and rushed at times (especially towards the end, which I'll probably fix when I get back) but otherwise it's still good. It's really dialogue heavy too, though I think I always remember this being pretty dialogue heavy, since that's the way the information is dictated so I'll let it slide...maybe... Whatever, it's done and that's all I care about right now XD

Anywho, enough useless prattle. I'll see you all on the other side of Disneyland (we're going for the weekend), and have a Merry Christmas for those who celebrate it, hope those who celebrate Hanukah are enjoying it, and a happy upcoming Kwanzaa for those who celebrate that as well. And if you don't celebrate any of those...well...have a happy holidays then! XD

* * *

Chapter Fourteen  
The Desolate Sister

"What was that all about?" Sam asked while Vlad's mansion grew too small for even an ant to inhabit.

"What was what all about?" Danny asked innocently.

"You know what I'm talking about! Vlad and you at the end there! What did he say?"

"Oh, nothing important. Just Vlad getting soft in his old age and giving me some sentimental farewells that he didn't want to say in front of everyone else."

"And you didn't tease him about it?" Tucker gawked.

"It wasn't the time," he replied simply, but with a firmness in his voice that told them the conversation was over. But they could tell he was still blocking something more than Vlad getting sentimental but apparently now wasn't the time to pester him on it. Danny wasn't in the mood to divulge to his friends that after all this build-up of excitement they couldn't accompany him for the final battle.

The rest of the trip to Chicago passed in relative silence, only peppered by brief stabs of conversation usually on Jacob or Tucker's part. But the conversations never lasted long as everyone had much more important things to think about. Manipulator, the sought after prophecy, the safety of their future selves, the clues in the letters, the final battle, there were enough topics to keep their minds occupied that the hour to Chicago passed by quickly and soon Danny was scrounging around in his jumpsuit looking for the post-it note discovered at the start of their journey.

After much navigation through streets and getting lost quite a few times they finally found the address scribbled on the note, landing in front of the Victorian country house just outside of the main city and transforming after making sure that there weren't any onlookers.

"I should have expected this," Danny sighed as his eyes took in the quaint yet flourishing garden lining the house and gated walkway. It was exactly the type of house he always saw her buying, and apparently her husband didn't care too much.

Husband. Oh God.

He froze halfway through pushing the gate open, remembering that Jazz had a husband now, and kids too! He was about to meet his brother-in-law and nieces and nephews! He had been looking forward so much to seeing Jazz, taking the time to prepare himself so he wouldn't be shocked to see her as the Jazz he currently lived with. He had come to terms with his sister having a profession and being married and having kids, but not once did his thoughts stray to those actual individuals, failing to remember that he'd have to meet them too. He wasn't quite prepared for that, prepared to explain to them what he was doing there and not the Danny that should be there, if they even knew about him.

"Danny!" Sam called, jerking Danny out of his thoughts.

"What?" he asked. "You didn't need to yell so loud."

"Yeah well I didn't think I needed to either, until you failed to answer me for the first three times," she snapped.

"Oh…sorry…" he apologized awkwardly, running his hand through his hair both in awkward shame and as a habitual calming of his nerves.

"You okay?"

"Me? Oh yeah, I'm fine I just…"

"Not ready to see her all grown up?"

"What? No no, that's not it. I'm good with that I just…I forgot about her husband and kids."

"Oh…yeah…" Sam replied, clearly indicating that she had as well.

"Look, I don't really know Jazz all that well save seeing her once a year but meeting them can't be any more awkward than finding out I'm your daughter right?" Kimberly suggested. They really needed to move inside. After hearing about Manipulator she no longer felt safe just standing in the middle of the street when any human around them could be under his control.

"Yeah I guess…I just don't even know their names or anything…"

Kimberly smiled, placing a gentle hand on his back while starting to nudge him down the tiled path. "Her husband's name is Michael and the twins are Emily and Aiden."

"But do they know about me being Phantom?"

"Now that…I can't tell you. We'll just have to hope Jazz opens the door."

"Yeah, like that hoping worked when we went to Val's house…" he mumbled when they finally reached the door. Noelle, Kimberly, and Jacob stood in back, keeping watch on the street while hiding the time-traveling trio from view as Danny rang the doorbell.

For once luck seemed to be with them as Jazz's bright red hair peeked out from behind the door, still long and flowing with the traditional headband holding it back. As soon as she saw the visitors at her door she gasped, the door shutting on them in her shock.

Danny looked over at Tucker and Sam, fidgeting nervously in the time it took for Jazz to decently compose and convince herself that she really had seen the assemblage at the door. Finally the door opened again, revealing the adult Jazz, aqua eyes tearing at the sight of them.

"D-D-Danny?" she stuttered, hand over her mouth in her disbelieving shock.

If he thought that he had gotten used to all the shocked and awed expressions that came with so many people upon first spotting him, he was wrong. In fact, seeing his sister's previously dull eyes light up in hope, love, and euphoria was even more awkward than the previous reactions. After all, she was his sister, and he knew how close they were now. Who knew how close they had been by the time he grew to the age he disappeared at, after he undoubtedly became more mature and responsible?

"Hey-hey Jazz," he greeted with a weak smile, his eyes starting to tear simply because hers were.

"Oh my God Danny!" she practically bawled, dropping down and hugging him so tightly that the rib-crushing Jack Fenton would have been proud. But counter to his usual complaints he simply just hugged her back just as tightly, realizing how very long it had been since she last was able to wrap her arms around him and to receive en embrace in return.

She bawled into his shoulder for a good few minutes, easily soaking his shirt and staining it from running mascara streaks, but neither of them cared. Brother and sister were united once again, and that was all that really mattered. And once she was done with her brother she extended one arm out for Sam, hugging both of them tightly, joyous beyond description to have her siblings back in her arms.

Finally common sense penetrated into Jazz's emotional state, causing her to pull away from him. "We…we should m-move from the door," she advised, standing on shaking legs to shut the door after ushering them inside. Danny took the opportunity of shuffling bodies to discreetly wipe his eyes dry and anyone who saw him didn't call him on it. Now certainly wasn't the time, especially since many of their eyes would betray them with tears as well.

"Cl-Clockwork sent you here, didn't he?" she asked, grabbing a tissue to dry her eyes and hopefully clean some traces of mascara from her cheeks.

He nodded, knowing that Jazz would figure it out without explanation.

"You're…you're here to bring you back aren't you?" she asked, hope betraying her attempted realistic tone like a professional traitor.

Again he nodded. "Do you think we can talk somewhere more…safe?" he asked, eyes falling upon the red-headed four year olds at the door to the kitchen, both identical save for the gender.

Jazz smiled, face shining as she headed over to her children, bringing them over to finally meet the uncle they had merely heard stories about but unfortunately never been allowed to meet.

"Emily, Aiden, this is your—"

But Danny coughed loudly, interrupting Jazz as she looked at him curiously. He shook his head, again blinking tears from his eyes. He didn't want them to meet him yet, not like this. After all, he was only going to be around for a few hours and he wanted to save their meeting of him for when they actually met the real him for this time period, the one they would grow up recognizing. At four they were far too young to understand something as complicated as this…

"Emily, Aiden, this is my very good friend Danny," she edited, still looking curiously at Danny but knowing a hint when she saw one.

"Like Unca Danny?" little Emily asked, her voice just about melting Danny's heart.

Jazz nodded, swallowing hard to stem the flow of tears even if a few managed to escape her defenses. It was just too adorable and yet heart-wrenching at the same time. "Yes, just like Uncle Danny."

"Mommy, why you crying?" came the little voice of Aiden, exhibiting the natural, innocent perceptions of a child not weighed down by knowledge of the world.

"Oh, Mommy's just really happy to see him, that's all. I haven't seen him in a long time and I've missed him very very much."

"And he's Mommy's fwend?"

"Yes, yes he is. One of my best," she smiled, aqua eyes meeting Danny's tearing blue ones.

"Then he's my fwend too," Emily announced firmly.

"Nuh-uh!" Aiden contested. "He's my fwend!"

"Nuh-uh! He's mine!"

"No, mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine! He's my bestestest gweatest, coowest, neatest, bestest fwend eva!"

"Well he's my bestestest gweatest…coowest…bestest bestest best best fwend!"

"How about we make this simple," Danny interrupted, now smiling widely at his niece and nephew. "You can both be my bestest friends, if you each give me a hug."

"Okay!" they agreed, feud instantly forgotten as they leapt into Danny's arms while he squeezed them tightly. Just because he didn't want them to know that he was their long lost uncle didn't mean that he still didn't want to be treated like one. His eyes sparkled through the happy tears as he twirled them around, their shrieking giggles drawing one out of him too which soon turned into joyous laughter.

"What's all this ruckus?" a deep yet kind voice asked as he came into the room, the unfamiliar voice startling him, stopping the joyous twirling of his niece and nephew.

But Danny wasn't the only person to be startled, for indeed the newcomer wore the same shocked expression as he stared at the teenager holding his children. His mouth opened and closed like he was trying to get something out, trying to voice his shock.

And Danny knew from the look that he recognized him, that he had obviously seen some picture of him as a teenager. He wondered if they'd ever met, or if Jazz had met him after he disappeared. He wondered what he'd been told, what he'd been able to do to ease Jazz's broken heart.

But before either shocked male could voice their thoughts Jazz took over, making sure no one said anything foolish.

"Michael dear, I'm sure you remember my good friend Danny," she introduced meaningfully, the weighted words falling deaf on the children in their naivety. Michael simply nodded, still gaping at him nonplussed. "Now Danny needs to tell me something important so, why don't you take the kids out for ice cream or something?" she hinted further.

"Aww," they griped in Danny's arms, clutching to him tighter. "We wanna spend time with Fwend Danny!" Emily complained further.

"Oh I know, but it's important sweetie," Jazz insisted.

"Will we see you later?" Aiden asked worriedly.

"No, I don't think so," Danny answered sadly, trying to stay immune to the twins' large, sad eyes. "But a friend of mine will be coming over soon and you can meet him, how does that sound?"

"Okay!" they cheered, hugging him goodbye before climbing out of his arms and into those of their father, pestering him for the promised ice cream. He consented, ready to take them out but Danny definitely caught the respectful nod in his direction, which he returned. He'd meet his brother-in-law later and at the right time. For now, he needed to concentrate on making sure that time _could_ come.

"Why don't we take this into the…into the lounge hmm?" Jazz asked, leading the way into the removed room where they could talk in private. The six sleuths followed, closing the door behind them while Jazz closed the blinds while casting nervous glances down the street. "Did anyone see you come inside?"

"No, we didn't think so," Danny replied.

She sighed, shaking her head. "Just because you don't think so doesn't mean no one saw you."

"God Jazz, you're being more paranoid than me…"

"You haven't been around here like I have; you don't know what this atmosphere's like."

"Well if anyone saw us it's your fault. You're the one that went all water-works on the front doorstep."

She cast glare in his direction, clearly demonstrating that she was far from amused. "Just sit down Danny."

The six of them sat down along with Jazz who simply looked curiously at Danny. "Have you learned anything yet? About the disappearance?"

"A bit yeah," he answered. He cast his eyes about the room in paranoia before continuing. "We found out that it was this really powerful ghost named Manipulator. What he wants we haven't quite figured out yet but he kidnapped Sam and me and is most likely holding us hostage still. We also—"

"Wait…Sam and you? What about Victoria?" she asked, chest clenching in horrified worry.

"Jazz, Victoria didn't go with us."

"What do you mean?" she asked, eyes widening as she feared the worst.

"We didn't take her with us. We hid her with the Jordans."

"You…you mean…" she gasped, wide eyes trailing over to Kimberly who nodded in response to her unasked question. "I…I knew. Or at least…I thought I knew… Every year I just…I had this feeling whenever I saw you… You look so much like him…" she trailed off, eyes tearing before heading over to Kimberly and hugging her tight. "This whole time…you've been my missing niece this whole time…."

She nodded, hugging her newly acquired aunt. "Is that why you'd always cry after seeing me at the funeral services?"

Jazz nodded, pulling away and dabbing at her eyes in the hope to preserve some of her dignity. "Yes. You always reminded me of her."

"Oh…sorry."

She laughed, sniffling in the last of her joyous tears. "It's all right. You're forgiven," she smiled. She wiped away what she hoped was the last of the tears, composing herself before turning to Danny. "I'm sorry, please continue."

"Oh, well I was just saying that I found out that there's this prophecy somewhere that's supposed to explain how to finally defeat him, so before we go chasing this Manipulator guy down, we need to find it first."

"But do you even have any idea where it is?"

"Nope. But Vlad thinks I found it and hid it somewhere, so we're just on the lookout for clues that'll hopefully point us in the right direction."

"And how have you been getting all this information?"

"He leaves clues in letters," Kimberly replied. "We've been tracking them down and decoding them for clues on what happened and where to go next."

"I knew it," she groaned. "I knew there wasn't an innocent reason for sending those letters. I thought maybe there was something more to them but I never really looked too deeply into it."

"Tell me you at least kept them," Danny pleaded.

"Well of course I kept them," she snapped. "They were one of the few things I did have of yours, of course I kept them."

Danny bit his lip, looking apologetic as his eyes drifted onto his lap. He kept forgetting that, to everyone else, he had been missing for many years and they hadn't just seen them the previous day like he had. For them, seeing him was a long awaited dream finally coming true, signaling the end of their lamenting sadness where any memory of him was a cherished gift, a piece of him that they no longer had. The thought alone made him feel more like a ghost than he ever had. He was like a long-dead spirit walking among the living, not even realizing he was dead. It was such a hard feeling to grasp but one he knew he needed to. After all, until he did he'd keep making stupid comments without realizing the severity of the feeling behind it, just like he'd done to Jazz.

"Can you get them Jazz?" Sam requested, breaking the awkward silence that had descended.

She nodded, leading over to the mantle of the fireplace. Atop it sat a small Victorian chest that everyone's eyes had just passed over as purely decoration. However Jazz pulled a long gold chain out from around her neck, the thin metal bearing the key to the chest. She opened it, digging through a few pictures of her little brother before removing two folded up letters. She handed them to him with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

Danny accepted them gratefully. There was a comment somewhere about being an overly-emotional sap, but now was definitely not the time for it. He opened them both, selecting the one with the earlier date and began to read aloud.

_April 13, 2014_

_Dear Jazz,_

_Surprise! Bet you never thought to see this huh? Rummaging through your bills, casting aside annoying junk mail, and then lo and behold! A letter from me, your dear, beloved brother! Whoever said I could be predictable… Well…actually that was you, but frankly that's beside the point._

_So…how does it feel to almost graduate? One month left right? One month and then I'll have to start calling you "Dr. Fenton". One month left and then you'll be free from school forever! You're so lucky…although you're probably disappointed right? Just admit it, you know you are. But don't worry, being a psychologist is like that right? Studying and reading and just…lots of stuff that's like school. So in essence, it's perfect for you._

_Mom and Dad are super proud by the way. You should hear them going on about you to the neighbors (that should be a clue right there, since they _never_ talk to the neighbors). But there's a lot of "My daughter's just finishing her _doctorate!_" and "We have a _doctor_ in the family!" all over the place. I was running errands with Mom the other day and she even started bragging about it to the cashier! I'm sure he didn't want to hear about it but did Mom care? Nope. She won't be satisfied until every single person in Amity knows about it, whether it be the cashier at the Nasty Burger or the little boy playing Battle for Middle-earth on his handheld game-station (he ran off crying to his mother about being accosted by strangers…and then Mom went up to talk to _her_ about it too!) You're so lucky you're not here…_

_But seriously, I think I should graduate with a doctorate now. Just watching all the stuff Mom's buying you…I definitely would like a piece of that. Not that I really need it but still…you're going to get some pretty sweet graduation presents, let me tell you. Books, furniture, money, movies, even a tv! That was Dad's idea, but he says it's because after so much schooling you deserve a break and apparently they're going to make sure it happens. Although I should warn you, I saw Mom trying to stick those ectoplasmic condiments in the box she's shipping to you. She still can't believe that you don't want them. She seems to be under the delusion in her ghost obsessed state that no one in their right mind would deny such novelties. She says that while they can be eaten (ew) they have many other uses. What those are, I am at a loss to answer, but I can tell you that I now refuse to eat anything she cooks that involves one of those three 'novelties', not that I ever really ate anything that she cooks without some trepidation… But really, you should do the same when it comes to this package…_

_Don't start thinking you're off scott-free from obsessive Mom-nagging though. Now that you've got your education she says there's no reason to put off getting a serious boyfriend. She's got little Victoria to play with constantly and while you'd think that would contain her…nope. She wants another, and guess who she's looking to for it? 'Course I told her you needed to be married first, hence the current push for a solid boyfriend. So yeah, it's kinda technically my fault, but she would have reached the conclusion anyways. But she keeps going on about what would be a good man for you and seriously, she's got a profile laid out and everything. She keeps going on about how you need a good man that you can control, like she does to dad. Someone who will do everything you want without question to make your home life simpler after you get home from work. I said there wasn't a man like that but she was just all "you never know…" Whatever. I think she's way too bored and watching way too many soap operas that feature controlling parents…_

_By the way, if she knew I was saying all this to you she'd probably kill me completely so…how about we exercise that wonderful new "patient confidentiality" thing you have to abide by and…not tell Mom about my little hints for you, 'kay? This is just loving, brotherly help so that when she finally does call/visit/write/combination of the three, you'll be prepared for what she's got up her sleeve…_

_Love you lots! I'll see you at your graduation!_

_Danny_

"Break it up?" Jacob asked.

"Break it up," Danny verified and Jazz watched in curious interest as the six sleuths gathered around the letter and began analyzing their respective paragraphs.

A few minutes later Jacob spoke up, rubbing his temples. "Alright, I'm done and I hope the rest of you are too because I'm ready to start and hey, I have the first paragraph so I can! And I am happy to report that there is nothing of import in the beginning except for the usual explanation for the reasoning behind sending the letter in the first place." He sighed. "You know, my exceptional mental capabilities are lost on these stupid introductory paragraphs…"

"Yeah, me too," Tucker groaned.

"Not as wasted as mine are. Maybe if someone was willing to switch…" he hinted, looking at each member individually.

"Nope."

"Not a chance."

"You can switch with me!" Tucker offered.

"Nice try Tuck" Jacob acknowledged "but you're just as stuck as I am." He slumped back in his seat, gesturing for the rest of them to continue with their more important paragraphs.

"Well unless there's something important about the doctorate degree, which congratulations by the way, there's nothing really in this one either," Noelle determined.

They nodded, accepting it as true and moving on as always. By now they'd sadly gotten this down to a science.

"I know this is going to sound weird, but I don't think there's anything in this one either. I mean, it refers to your parents, but it's not like we can visit them next or anything since they're kinda…well…missing." She refused to say 'dead'. "I mean, it's not really like you to put three nonsense paragraphs in here like this."

"I dunno, wasn't Vlad's another nonsense one too?" Jacob asked.

Danny shrugged, pulling out the letter from his pocket and skimming through it to the third paragraph. "Yeah, that was me just taking another stab at Vlad, so it wasn't important but it was to be expected."

"How in the world did you remember that?" Noelle asked, shaking her head.

"Just one of the many keys to my success: near photographic memory."

The rest of them just groaned, their attention turning back to the letter's strange contents.

"I know I may be new at this, but I think I see a similarity between the two," Jazz brought up.

"A similarity? With what?" Danny asked.

"Mine and Vlad's letters. You said his was taking a stab at him and that it was practically expected of you in a letter of his right?"

"Right. Don't see what you're getting at though."

"Well wouldn't it be expected of you to write a long letter to me and talk to me about the parents I hardly see and their actions, especially regarding my academic prowess?"

"She's got a point," Kimberly agreed. "You did that before to make the letter seem less suspicious so why wouldn't you do that to this one too?"

"Yeah…I guess that makes sense," Danny conceded. "But let's just not knock this one off as immediately unimportant 'kay? Because I gotta warn you, I don't think mine's got anything important in it either…"

"What?" Jacob asked. "How could the first four paragraphs be nonsense? That's…that's not usual…" he pointed out, scanning the paragraph. "…Wait a minute…isn't this the second mention of that lemon juice?"

Danny snatched the letter back, looking at the paragraph again. Sure enough, actually looking at the word brought memories back, causing him to fumble around in his pockets for the first letter he wrote, the one that had mentioned it the first time. And there it was, the first mention of the ectoplasm. Immediately he remembered sitting around his old kitchen table, searching through the closet for a sample of it only to find that there was none, and then reasoning that there was an important reason for Jazz to have it…

"Jazz, did Mom and Dad ever send you this ectoplasmic lemon juice?"

"Just lemon juice? They sent me a whole crate of that worthless stuff! Ketchup, mustard, relish, even chocolate syrup! I never understood why they sent it because that honestly can't be good to eat."

"I…I don't think it was meant for eating Jazz. I think I made them send it," Danny admitted.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know yet, but I've made reference to it twice _and_ asked about its purpose. That's got to be a clue, it's just gotta be."

"A clue about what?"

"I don't know yet, but it's definitely something… You still have it right?"

"Of course. Mom and Dad would never forgive me if I threw it away. It's in the attic with all the rest of the worthless ghost stuff they sent me."

"Can you get it? I think we're going to need it for something…"

She nodded, heading upstairs to the attic where she kept all the various ghost inventions her parents had sent her to help 'detox her house of ghost invaders' as they had said.

"Danny, do you really have any idea what it's for?" Kimberly asked.

"None at all, but repetition is key right? People only repeat stuff that's important so this…it has to serve some kind of purpose, it's just gotta."

Jazz returned with it, setting the clear jars of ectoplasmically infused condiments on the table to expose their slightly glowing contents.

"Dude that's like…weird versions of glow in the dark paint," Jacob commented.

"Can you see why I didn't want to eat it now?" Jazz replied.

"Yeah…yeah I can…"

"And it doesn't say anything about what it's used for in the letter?" Sam asked.

"Nope. Just that it has many other uses."

"Maybe it's in another letter?" Jazz suggested. "It would make sense to put all the information pertaining to a clue in different letters, especially if you're trying to avoid suspicion."

"Yeah…that makes sense I guess," Danny agreed. "So…keeping this in mind and moving on?"

They nodded their heads in agreement, turning towards Kimberly for the next paragraph analysis.

"Well, other than talk of a boyfriend this one doesn't really have much pertinent information, which makes me think the ectoplasm thing is even more important since it's like, the only thing mentioned here that isn't just conversational filler."

"Conversational filler? Oh come on!" Jacob griped. "You get the really good paragraph and you don't even do anything with it!"

"Fine, what do _you_ think it means, Mr. Genius?" she asked in aggravation.

"Isn't it obvious? Jazz's husband is in league with Manipulator!"

The room sat in stunned silence, the occupants bearing a look of disbelief and insult.

"Oh come on!" he pushed. "He can control people, so who better to control and pump for information on what the Fentons know by controlling an outsider recently added intot eh family! You didn't have a boyfriend or husband _before_ he went missing, but _after_ you do. Could be a plant. C'mon guys, it's perfect!"

Again, silence permeated the room before Noelle finally found her voice. "I'm really sorry about him Jazz."

"What are you apologizing about?" Jacob asked harshly.

"It's okay," Jazz sighed, completely ignoring him.

"No it's not! I'm not sorry!"

"Jacob, I know how much you love your paranoid conspiracy theories, but this is the first time your stupid theories are actually callous.'

"They're not callous! And they're not paranoid conspiracy theories! It makes sense! If I were him I'd want a plant!"

"It would be completely useless to put a plant in my house. I don't even live near Danny. The Jordans would be better."

"But Danny didn't hint to the Jordans."

"I didn't necessarily hint to Michael either! Maybe I was just warning her to be careful!"

"And maybe half of the other hints are just warnings as well."

"Oh for crying out loud…" Danny groaned.

"Look, I didn't meet Michael for many years after Danny disappeared. By then this Manipulator wouldn't need to collect information because he would have already had Danny."

"What if he was making sure you wouldn't try to find him?"

"It's Jacob right?" she asked, receiving nods from everyone in confirmation. "Look Jacob, I'm a psychologist, one of the best if I may say so myself. I can read people very, very well. Michael is not being controlled by some ghost and he is not a double agent trying to recover information and send it back to this Manipulator. He is just an average guy that got married into our messed up family, end of story. Are we clear?"

"Just one more question."

"What?" she groaned.

"Did you show your husband these letters?"

Everyone else around the room groaned along with Jazz. "No, I didn't. No one's seen these but me. I believe I was asked in a latter letter not to reveal any details to anyone, not even my parents or Tucker. So no, I didn't show him."

"And he's gone right?"

"Yes!" they all yelled.

"Alright, then I'll let it slide."

Everyone groaned while Danny gestured for Tucker to finish up with the letter. They still had two more to go through and it was getting late, especially for the two half-ghosts that had been awake flying through the night.

"Nothing to report, as usual. Hopefully the next one has something better…"

"So are we agreed? Onto the next one?" Danny asked, finding the second letter with the latter date.

"Well since the only real thing of importance is something that needs more clues to figure out, I think it's safe enough to move onto the next one," Kimberly agreed.

He nodded, opening it up and clearing his throat before beginning to read.

_August 16, 2014_

_Jazz,_

_Hey, it's me again! I know how much you enjoyed getting that letter last time (what was it in…April? You should remember, you're good at random useless things like dates) and I had a few extra minutes so…here's another one! Although frankly I think it's easier to type stuff, since it's a lot faster and you don't end up getting carpal tunnel after it (well, not immediately at least). Seriously, my writing endurance must have fallen dramatically because I can't write nearly as long or as fast as I used to be able to. Blame it on Foley. I do._

_I mean seriously, Tucker really outdid himself with it. It's so much better than Windows and way better than a Mac. I can't believe we were using those for so many years, and we actually thought it was good! I mean, Foley's version of Word has slang already programmed in as proper spelling and grammar and actually can tell the difference between a fragment and a sentence! Although, now Tucker's gotten the biggest ego boost ever and he's almost impossible to talk to now, but what can you do? I guess he deserves it, but still. He's kinda like dealing with you now—only joking! I love ya sis!_

_By the way, he's invited us to his home in Florida to spend some time over the summer if you can make it. I know there's not much left of the summer, especially for you with your prestigious internship and all, but if you can get some time off we'd love for you to join us! We got a babysitter for Victoria so it's going to be just the three (four if you can go) of us, just like old times. It'll be great and it'll give Tucker a chance to brag and boast and show off, which is probably the real reason why we're going. We all know that Tucker likes Florida in the spring and that he thinks it's too humid in the summer, but I've heard from him that it's a really nice house. Something about having a perfect view of the beach and all the swim-suited girls walking along the beach…trust Tucker to pick a view like that… Anywho, should be fun either way! Ringfest Whatever-Number-We're-On is already in the works and I refuse to start it without you there, so I really hope you can come, even if for just a little bit!_

_And while you're there, you should totally start talking to Tucker about settling down and getting a girl. I think this "big man on campus" mentality of his is seriously getting to him. Every time I talk to him he's going out with some different girl! He says none of them are serious, and they had better not be if he keeps switching them out, but still…it shouldn't be too hard for him to get a good girlfriend and hopefully wife soon enough. I think it would be good for him. So you've got to pull your psychological mumbo-jumbo on him while we're in Florida and see if you can't get him to settle down. Call it whatever you want, fear of commitment, letting his fame get to his head, who knows. But I really think he should settle down._

_But it'll be so great to see you again! It was amazing seeing you after your graduation! I forgot how much I loved spending time with you sis! You never really quite realize it until after being apart for so long how much you miss and love them… Sorry, a little deep introspection for the psychology-inclined. But seriously it is true. I really have missed you, so please _please _try to get off for Florida? Seeing you just at graduation and then not all summer was a cruel teaser and I'd hate to go to Christmas without seeing you again…_

_All my love and more!_

_Danny_

Danny sighed as everyone crowded around this letter as well, dissecting and breaking the letter apart for analysis. Everyone save Tucker that was, who was given the shortest end of the stick he had ever received in that he didn't even get a paragraph to dissect, unless of course the phrase 'All my love and more!' had some hidden meaning to it, a point which he was sure to make clear to everyone while they were making 'important contributions to the team' as he called it. But finally they were ready for yet another dissection.

"Alright, to get right to the chase; considering that we already know to look at the dates for chronological order of events in case that's important, there's really nothing important in this one save for the traditional excuse for sending the letter. Next."

"Definitely referencing Tucker in this one," Noelle stated confidently. "I'm definitely thinking we need to go visit him next, as weird as this is unfortunately going to be for you Tucker."

"Yeah…I was kinda looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time…" he lamented.

"But this whole paragraph references him."

"As does the next one," Sam pointed out.

"So I think that's a pretty compelling argument for him to have the next letter."

"Yeah, it really does. Makes sense I'd give one to one of my best friends too, especially if I gave one to Vlad. So to Tucker after this. Alright, so Sam, next one please."

"Well, at first I thought that this was a Tucker reference, since the whole paragraph's about visiting him, but since Noelle started saying that the paragraph beforehand was, I started looking at it deeper. I think there might be something to do with Florida. Not necessarily with Tucker's summer home, but there might be something important in Florida, like the location of Manipulator's lair or the location of the prophecy that you hid."

"Ooh, nice one Sam, good spot," Danny complimented excitedly. "We should definitely look into hitting up Florida after we finish chasing the path of the letters. And I think my paragraph seconds that notion. It's like Sam's, all about Tucker and his summer Florida home, and getting a girlfriend which isn't really important."

"Uh, hello?" Jacob asked in disbelief, not believing they were missing the hint _again_.

"Tucker's not dating anyone," Jazz told him with a sigh. "Apparently he didn't take the suggestion too seriously…"

"Alright fine, there goes that theory…" Jacob pouted.

"So, another mention of Florida at the end of my paragraph," Kimberly announced, moving on before Jacob had a chance to go off on his theories again. "But aside from that I don't think this one's that important. If anything I think it was more a hint to the past Jazz than it is to us now."

"What do you mean?" Jazz asked in curiosity.

"Well he goes off on how much he wanted to see you before Christmas and how much he liked seeing you at graduation, so apparently he was hinting to the fact that he wanted to see you before he disappeared. It's…it's kinda proof that he knew ahead of time if you want to think of it like that. He knew he most likely wasn't going to be around by Christmas so he wanted to see you one more time before that."

Jazz slumped in her seat, head to her forehead in disbelief. How had she not seen that? How had she missed that? She, the noted psychologist who could read people better than she could read herself? She had missed this clue when some sixteen-year-old had seen it. Of course vision was always better in hindsight which gave Kimberly the advantage, but she still should have seen it, she should have.

"You…you didn't go did you? To Florida?" Danny asked sadly, noticing the tears in her eyes.

She shook her head, dabbing the tears with a tissue as she tried to contain herself. "I-I…I went but not…not for the who-whole time. I…I couldn't get off work for that…that long," she sniffled. "It…it was only for two days. I mean I…I knew all this time that it was the…the last time I had seen him and I…I cherished the memory of that day all this time, Tucker too but I…I wish I could've known you know, beforehand. All the…all the things I could have said, all the questions I could've asked, all the things we could have done and now here's proof that I…I could've known…" she finished, crying by the end into her tissue.

Danny stood from his seat, sitting next to his sister as he wrapped his arms around her in an unusual sign of affection for one his age. "Look Jazz it…it's okay. I'm going to rescue myself and then it…well it really won't matter if you ever got to say your final goodbyes or not. Besides, I don't think I would've wanted you to know to be honest. I would have rather spent time with you as you, not filled with sorrow knowing it was the last time I would have seen you. I mean, it would have been bad enough knowing it without actually having to make it seem like it."

"I-I…I suppose but it…it's still hard to…to accept."

"I know…I know," he comforted, hugging her tight. "I'm so sorry Jazz, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have kept all this hidden like I did. Clearly I knew about this for awhile if I sent this note in April but I…I never told anyone or asked for any help. I don't know why as of yet, maybe out of fear of what Manipulator would have done, but it would have been easier on all of you if you'd have known and I'm sorry."

"N-no it…it's okay. It's plausible deniability isn't it? If we didn't know about it then it…it couldn't be used against you whether by will or not. No you…you were right to keep us in the dark and I don't think any of us blame you for it. I know I don't."

"Thanks Jazz," he smiled, keeping her held close.

"Thank you for coming back Danny. I've missed you."

"I know. It'll all be over soon, don't worry. We're so close to being done, so close."

She nodded, battling with herself quietly as she nested in her brother's comforting hug more like a little sister rather than a much older one. "Danny there…there's something I need to—"

But she was interrupted as the door to the salon burst open, revealing a very familiar face, one that left the sleuths stunned with surprise, not expecting to see the smiling face there at all.

* * *

A/N: Ah, don't you miss these? I know you do. Well, I know I do at least XD May not be up to my usual standards, but I had to stop this monster chapter somewhere. 

So..."Holy amount of information Batman!" XD Told you there would be. Lots and lots to seep through, lots of unexpectant treasures to find, lots of connections yet made (you do have all the information to discover the use of the ectoplasm infused condiments by the way, if you're keeping track of all the clues XD), and lots of red herring clues too. Keep a sharp eye out XD God I missed these...


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